


No Cybertron For Old Men

by NonbinaryHylian (chicagoartnerd)



Series: Without Love There Is No Meaning [2]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Character Death Fix, Cuddling & Snuggling, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Non-Sticky Sexual Interfacing, Post-Canon Fix-It, Praise Kink, Size Difference, Spark Sexual Interfacing, Sticky Sexual Interfacing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Transformers Plug and Play Sexual Interfacing, Transformers Spark Bonds, Valve Fingering (Transformers), Valve Oral (Transformers), Wedding Fluff, mud wrestling, seriously guys I went full on self indulgent to the max here, sparring to flirting, this feels like slow burn but it's absolutely not for this pairing lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-09-06 10:54:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 53,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20290288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chicagoartnerd/pseuds/NonbinaryHylian
Summary: Minimus Ambus has always been good at doing his work. Some would say that is the only thing he's good at. Once he assigns himself a duty he will stick with it until it ends or he does.When Optimus Prime's Last Will And Testament presents him with an opportunity to free a certain former Decepticon Warlord turned Autobot ship captain, he leaps at the chance.Megatron is both his duty and a commitment that he desperately wants to make. He simply hopes he feels the same, because if not it's going to be a very long several million years exiled on a deserted planet together...





	1. The Act Of Disclosure

**Author's Note:**

> Check the author's notes at the end of this chapter for information about the timeline of this fic as I noodled a bit with LL #25 ending timeline for Unicron. 
> 
> Also this fic comes with a prequel/tandem fic called "You, Me & Bee" talking about the events from this chapter from Windblade's perspective. You'll also get the full text of Optimus's Will over there if you're curious. You can read it here or click on the series to read part one. https://archiveofourown.org/works/19301344/chapters/45906910
> 
> And of course the amazing artwork for this fic that was done by @ HelendorfD on Twitter which I am going to embed in each chapter it appears in as we go! She did an incredible job and both illustrations made me tear up with joy!
> 
> Also wanna thank https://archiveofourown.org/users/starscrearn for the beta! They were with me working on this since May!!! I love everyone who read this and cheered me on, artist, beta, and friends! Ya'll are the best!

It seemed as if everyone in the room was shouting at once. Minimus could even make out the human delegates of the New Council of Worlds screaming among the din. Finally Windblade put her foot down, literally through the golden podium floor and everyone stopped.

“We can argue till we all lose our charges and blackout but the point remains the same. This was his final wish and he was right to ask for it.”

Minimus was sure some wouldn’t agree with that last part but Windblade was the moral compass of The New Council of Worlds so those who disagreed might be inclined to keep it to themselves from now on. He did agree with her though. 

Optimus Prime was a complicated figure for many reasons. Even though he was often pragmatic about it he did always _ try _ to do the right thing. For Earth and Cybertron anyway. He didn’t want to admit that there was another reason he wanted Optimus’s last will and testament fulfilled. A reason he had been thinking about and fretting over for years. A reason he had thrown himself into managing the forging efforts on New Luna One instead of continuing to venture out into the universe with Rodimus. A reason he didn’t think anyone, besides Lug and Anode, would understand. They couldn’t. 

Anyone who hadn’t been a part of the _ Lost Light _would never understand who he had become, they would only ever know Megatron as a war criminal, a dictator, Lord Megatron. He was all of those things but he was also someone who had asked for a way to redeem himself, and more still, had tried. 

The Galactic Council had sentenced him to life in prison for all time, hooked up to a mobius generator so he could not die. To make an example out of him. 

To send a message. Crimes against all life would be eternally punished. 

As much as he loved the law, had always done his best to enforce it and live by it, in this one judgement he found no justice. 

Not for Megatron and not for all the millions he had killed and maimed, the lives he had ended and ruined. Because of the sheer magnitude of the crimes it essentially rendered all punishments insufficient. 

Really the only justice to be had would have been reparations; a lifetime of servitude and atonement. Which seemed to be what Megatron had ultimately wanted, spending 700 hundred years fighting for freedom in the Functionist universe, traveling on the _ Lost Light _ and saving folks around their own universe. Yet he had gone quietly. 

According to Rodimus he didn’t protest when Prowl informed him of his second trial, didn’t try to find a way around his sentencing, he never lied about who he was and what he’d done.

Minimus had done his best as Ultra Magnus to represent Megatron as defense council. His impassioned final arguments for a lifetime of making amends had fallen on uncaring audials. Minimus originally wanted them to allow Megatron to help him on New Luna One with the forging efforts. There was a sort of poetic tilt to it, someone who had killed millions working to bring thousands of new lives into the world. Protecting, nurturing, loving; instead of destroying, killing, and hating. The Galactic Council didn’t see his point. They didn’t understand that Megatron wanted some way to make amends even if he never could. 

Minimus had watched him be hooked up the machine, watched his optics power down, had wanted so desperately to hold his hand. Instead he had left him there alone in Garrus-10, suspended in eternal stasis. 

He was powerless to liberate him and it had slowly been eating away at him, rusting his sparkcase out. But somehow in his death Optimus had done what Minimus had only dreamed of. He had laid the groundwork to free Megatron.

The newly made Mistress of Flame Pyra Magna stood and looked out at the whole council regally. “I did not always agree with Optimus Prime, in fact I often felt he was unworthy of that title. But in this judgement I hold with his reasoning. We as a species, as a people, have suffered enough. There is no justice to be gained in more oppression. Those who seek to make restitution should be freed. Those of lesser crimes should be freed to live their lives. I would even be so bold as to suggest some sort of structured release for _ him _. Imprisonment is a tool of war. We are no longer at war.”

The chatter started again after that little speech but it quickly fell to silence when Elita 1 stood and addressed Windblade directly. “Are you seriously proposing we let your planet’s greatest war criminal run around the universe free and clear simply because Optimus Prime was naive enough to still care for his evil counterpart? I know you’re an idealist but I didn’t think you were such a fool. Not only could this harm us directly by Megatron returning to his old megalomaniacal ways but if the Galactic Council figures out we’ve disregarded their ruling we will lose our very tenuous place in it AND be sanctioned most likely! Bumblebee, you’re the representative to the Galactic Council, what do you think of this madness?”

Bumblebee had been silent throughout this entire argument but he nodded toward Elita 1. “The Galactic Council would see it as an act of betrayal most likely. That doesn’t mean I agree with you. I...I knew him after he laid down his fusion cannon and I believe that he wanted to try to make it right. We all know he can’t ever truly do that but he wanted to try. That is reason enough for me to listen to Optimus’s last wish.” 

Windblade was gearing up to respond when Minimus stood up abruptly. Only the bots on either side of him noticed at first, then he stepped up onto the seat of his chair and addressed the whole council. He knew what he had to do.

“Although I am no longer the Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord I am still intimately familiar with the law. In their ruling the Galactic Council specified that Megatron be confined for the rest of his life and to never leave the watchful eye of the Cybertronian Justice Department. They never said that that imprisonment had to be on Garrus-10 or even in this solar system.

We could honor Optimus Prime’s final request and still keep to the letter ruling of the Galactic Council if Megatron was sent offworld, to a mostly uninhabited planet to live out the rest of his life naturally while being supervised by someone, or a group on the behalf of the Justice Department.” 

Elita 1 arched a brow at his words and then smoothly replied.“Oh? Are you volunteering to be his personal jailer Minimus Ambus?”

He was in a way. He didn’t think of himself as a prison warden in this case though. Minimus was willing to do it. He didn’t let her rile him up about it. 

When he responded it was to directly address Windblade. “We can discuss the details of my proposal more fully in private but my declaration to the New Council of Worlds represents my official stance on how to resolve this issue. I am currently in charge of the New Luna One repopulation efforts but would gladly offer my services in any endeavor you need me for. Including taking on the role of supervising Megatron in his...limited freedom.”

He heard grumbles and whispers among the other council members. Bumblebee was smiling at him though and Windblade looked very pleased with his response.

She addressed all those gathered there. “I believe that Minimus has put forward the one, and only, viable response to this problem. If you disagree, feel free to put forward additional solutions for our immediate review if not then we will vote on whether or not to abide by Optimus Prime’s dying wish tomorrow. With that I believe we should hear closing statements and adjourn for the day.”

Pyra Magna cleared her throat and stood to her full height, her optics resolute and focused on Windblade.“I have spoken with the human delegates and Arcee, the leader of the New Cybertron-Earth bots, and we all support Minimus Ambus’s proposal.”

That really got the whispers and rumbling complaints going but Windblade once again called for silence and then announced the end of the session. Pyra Magna, Arcee and the humans would be returning to Earth by space bridge that afternoon which was probably why she had wanted to cast her vote in favor today. Still it had really kicked the hornet’s nest, as the humans would say. 

He was nervous, but also prepared to defend his position even if people got nasty about his past with Megatron. Windblade motioned for him and Bumblebee to follow her to her office on the ship. Cybertron itself was a sea of debris but the surrounding moons still supported a population and Windblade commuted between them and Earth’s solar system on her flagship the _ Tellistrad _. 

She only knew his side of the story. Windblade hadn’t really met Megatron after his contrition but she had listened to him and Rodimus when they had campaigned for Megatron’s release after the return of the_ Lost Light _. Windblade also trusted Bumblebee, and his opinions on Megatron had also been favorable. She had admitted to him only ever seeing Megatron through Starscream’s nightmares while they shared the same mind but she was willing to believe that anyone could change. And that everyone who wanted one, deserved a second chance. 

The other members of the Galactic Council hadn’t agreed with her “naive optimism” and had instead listened to Prowl’s recommendation of eternal imprisonment. In their closing statements several even implied that Minimus had been seduced by Megatron and that was why even a former enforcer of the Tyrest Accord was testifying in his favor. 

Those Council members had made it sound more sordid than it ever had been. They had been captain and first officer, then friends, nothing more. No matter how much people would like to speculate. 

No matter how much Minimus himself had often dreamed of being more. 

Now was not the time to think of what could have been. He was so very close to helping his friend gain some sort of life and freedom back. 

When Cybertron had been torn asunder by Unicron, Prowl had evacuated Garrus-10 but Minimus had worried he had left Megatron there to die. When he had evacuated to Earth with the rest of New Luna One he had tried not to confront him about it but to his shame he had definitely gotten into a shouting match with Prowl. 

It turned out that Megatron was transported with the rest of the prisoners in Garrus-10 safely out of the death maw of Unicron to undisclosed space. But of course now Prowl wanted to know why Minimus cared so much about possibly the greatest evil Cybertron had ever produced enough to berate him over his care. Minimus had been livid. Though he was using all of his restraint to be cordial to Prowl after he not so subtly implied he had been compromised by his personal feelings for Megatron. 

Of course Prowl was right but Minimus had always been a mech of order and law, having all of that questioned and sullied was unacceptable. The two hadn’t really spoken since. After Megatron’s second trial Minimus had moved to New Luna One to oversee and help coordinate the raising of thousands of new sparks. He had also moved there because that’s where they were keeping Megatron. He didn’t dare ask Prowl to visit him, he knew how that would be viewed and sneered at. But somehow just knowing their sparks were in the same city made him feel slightly less like he had abandoned him. 

Which was something his mind was stuck on loop repeating. That he could have done more to save his friends. Not just Megatron but all of them, all the friends he had lost during that long and bloody war. All the friends he had lost afterwards to petty and violent conflicts even though they were supposedly at peace. 

Optimus Prime was dead and his loss had left a hole in their society. For better or for worse Optimus was a bonding force that held them all together. And his death had reminded Minimus of another of his failures. A failure he had shared with the Prime. Their inability to save Megatron might not have been something Optimus knew they had in common but it was what bound them most closely. 

Optimus Prime had gone to his grave with this regret and had tried to leave something behind that might have helped his old friend one last time. Minimus wasn’t about to let that hope slip away, for both their sakes. No matter how selfish it was he was going to free Megatron in Optimus’s name. And for himself. 

He missed him. 

Every time he lay down exhausted to recharge, visions of their time together on the_ Lost Light _ came back. Small simple things, not even all the battles they weathered, but that little crease between his optics as he listened to Rodimus make an especially heinous pun. The smile he gave Minimus when they had managed to recalibrate the quantum fuel release valve to make the _ Lost Light _ more energy efficient. The small carefully written glyphs he left on the duty datapads in relation to various changes in the roster. _ Noted, with thanks _. His lips as he read some poetry or literature in their shared office. Even though he was reading silently sometimes his lips formed words as if to help him sound them out. 

Minimus was smitten then but didn’t dare show any signs. 

Just hidden glances and desires always cut off and stuffed away deep down inside. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t had anything to distract him from these inconvenient longings. The_ Lost Light _was like a distraction generating engine. There was always someone getting up to something world bendingly dangerous or foolish or, in Brainstorm’s case, both. 

He had regretted at times not trying to at least tell Megatron how he felt but in the end, when they didn’t find the Knights, he had dreaded their return to Cybertron. There would be no stopping Megatron’s eternal incarceration or more likely his execution and that hardly seemed like a good time to confess his ill advised feelings.

That was possibly the worst time to tell someone you had fallen in love with them actually. 

He wasn’t good at grand declarations to begin with and confessing at the last minute before one of them was going to die just seemed cruel. Instead he had held his tongue, had told Megatron he wouldn’t forget who he had become and what he had tried to do while with them. 

That seemed to have been enough because Megatron had smiled gently at him as they hooked him up to the mobius generator. Minimus had tried to smile back but he knew it was pained as he watched his optics go wide and then dark and empty. That sight haunted his dreams more often than any of his memories of the war, the Primal Vanguard, or his time with the Wreckers, that usually made up his darkest nightmares. 

He had taken a week off work for the first time in his functioning and had contacted Rodimus. 

They went on a three-day bender together and had woken up in the middle of a bar fight before having to run from the New Luna One police. Rodimus missed Megatron too, just not the same way Minimus did. 

In fact it was his worrying for Rodimus that actually helped him claw his way back to some sort of normalcy after what happened to Megatron. Rodimus didn’t just miss him, he missed the whole crew, he missed his ship, he missed exploring the galaxy with his friends. Minimus knew that deep down Rodimus missed having a purpose. 

Without the_ Lost Light _he was struggling to keep his surprisingly delicate sense of self importance alive. The only problem with losing that was it was a huge part of Rodimus’s spark. He was a good leader and a good friend, but he was also deeply insecure and needed constant validation and praise to remain semi-functional. So Minimus had dedicated himself to making sure Rodimus didn’t drink himself to death every night and Rodimus had kept him from thinking about his own ghosts. It had all come to a head when Unicron attacked and that was when he had snapped. 

In the last month he had been avoiding everyone he knew from the _ Lost Light _and everyone he had known as the Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord. But when Windblade had sent him a comm about the contents of Optimus’s Will and called a meeting of the New Council of Worlds, the first after Optimus’s sacrifice and the evacuation of Cybertron to Earth, he knew he had to attend. 

New Luna One hadn’t nominated a delegate so he put himself forward as a candidate and since no one else wanted the post he had gotten it. The whole of Cybertronian society spread out over many worlds was meeting for the first time on Windblade’s ship in neutral territory outside the orbit of New Luna One. 

The fact that they were meeting to discuss whether to free Megatron as per Optimus Prime’s last wishes, meant he had to attend. He had made a plan, pouring over the 700 page ruling for Megatron’s eternal imprisonment and the exact wording of Optimus’s last will and testament. He had consulted with several lawyers and had lost many a night’s recharge over worrying he would somehow mess this up. 

Windblade closed the door to her office behind them and motioned for him and Bumblebee to sit, she naturally had several seats of different sizes in front her desk so he did. As soon as they were seated she got right to the point. “Are you sure this is what you want Minimus? There’ll be no going back from this commitment if you make it.”

That almost made him smile, he had been committed to this for longer than she could ever know. He smoothed his features out to a professional calm when he answered. “I’m sure. As you know I value loyalty and duty as much as I value justice. My plan is the best delivery of all these ideals. Don’t worry Windblade. I don’t have any regrets and I won’t be changing my mind.”

She broke out into a very genuine smile at his words and nodded. “I will do everything in my power as First Delegate to make sure that your proposal is approved and that the transition moves smoothly. I can’t guarantee any particular planet that you will be moved to or the conditions on said planet above it being hospitable to Cybertronian life. I’m sorry but there are only so many strings I can pull when the Galactic Council is involved. Bee?” 

Bumblebee appeared uncomfortable since they had arrived in her office and was wincing slightly as he spoke. “I don’t have much good will with the Council yet, Cybertron hasn’t exactly been friendly with any of the member worlds in the past. Yes, _ I am aware _ that is largely Megatron’s fault.” He said the last part sarcastically over his shoulder, almost as if he was speaking to someone else. 

If Windblade noticed it she didn’t acknowledge his strange way of speaking. “I’ve had a chance to review your proposal for future construction and establishment of relevant facilities on whatever planet the New Council decides to ship you off to and I must say I’m impressed. We are short on resources right now due to the rebuilding of various settlements in the flotilla. I am afraid we might only be able to offer you access to data and energon, not construction materials. Although I see in your proposal you mention acquiring such things on the Galactic Market using your own savings.”

She turned to Bumblebee then. ”Do you think you could ask around to see if anyone would be willing to cut a deal on prefabbed materials while in Galactic Council space Bee?”

Bumblebee ex-vented heavily and shook his head. “Yeah I guess we’re doing this then. Alright. I can ask around and get back to you, that is one thing I’m glad you included in your proposal. Knowing the Justice Department I wouldn’t be surprised if they shipped you off to some rustball without a long range cybernet connection. Open lines of communication between us and wherever you two end up will be vital to the success of your project.”

Minimus raised a confused optic ridge at Bumblebee apparently speaking to himself again before Windblade drew his attention. “Good luck Minimus! Please know that we’re rooting for you. You aren’t alone in your support of a second chance for him.”

Bumblebee muttered to his side. “Well most of us here are rooting for you two anyhow.” Windblade gave the space next to Bee a surprisingly rueful look before she turned to smile at Minimus. 

He smiled at both of them and then nodded once more before making his way back down to the _ Tellistrad _’s shuttle bay. Once he was back to his mostly empty apartment on New Luna One tried to recharge on his slab, one of the only things in his room, but he couldn’t find peace. He went over his proposal again, each time finding a new clause or addendum to add for clarification of wording and purpose. 

The idea had started off simply enough. Recreate the _ Lost Light _. 

Not the ship itself per say but the environment it had engendered. The bonding, the friendship, the family that the crew eventually formed. Minimus knew that the New Council of Worlds could never convince the Galactic Council to let Megatron roam the universe now that they had handed down a sentence so it would have to a stationary ship of sorts. 

Then the idea came to him to build a community. Like Little Cybertron on Bikini Atoll on Earth. They could exile Megatron to a planet, once he was there they couldn’t really stop anyone from visiting him if they wanted to. And Minimus was sure not many would want to but if word got out that this community was good, was helpful, then more would come. 

They’d need medical and science facilities, for research and also for healing. They’d need energon mining and processing plants. They’d need builders and engineers for faster than light ships and traveling. They’d need teachers. Psychiatrists. Janitors and Groundskeepers. They’d need people who studied and worked with xeno-ecology and biologics. They’d need folks who knew how to protect others if they ever decided to branch off and help people around the galaxy again like they did on the_ Lost Light _. 

This new place on this new planet could be a base of operations for dispatching rescue or aid missions. Cybertronians could work together to try and patch up all the holes their war had punched in the universe. 

Minimus hoped Megatron would want to be a part of this. He knew that folks like Velocity and Nautica would, Drift and Ratchet might as well. Brainstorm and Perceptor could also be persuaded to join up as long as he told them there was research and exciting new scientific possibilities to be had. Minimus knew he could convince Rodimus to join up if he got to go out exploring again and was given a sufficiently important title. He wasn’t so sure about Cyclonus and Tailgate as they were still off enjoying their honeymoon somewhere far off in the next galaxy over. Swerve would be on board though, and maybe even Fortress Maximus, Roller, and the Scavengers. 

He had acquired everyone on the _ Lost Light _’s hailing frequencies. The least he could do was ask. If his proposal to make this new community was approved he would start sending out comms. Minimus started composing what he would ask of each of them while he lay awake. No recharge would come now that he was really going over the minutiae. 

The next day came too slowly and also at a breakneck speed. 

He found himself exhausted, sitting straight and fully alert at the vote of the New Council of Worlds on what to do with Megatron. Windblade put his proposal for a new offworld facility designed to render rescue help forward with her full support. 

There were those who were opposed it, most noticeably Prowl made an appearance to speak on behalf of the naysayers. He suspected it was Elita 1 who brought him in on the negotiations. She was still vying for Windblade’s position after all. 

His speech was impassioned and Minimus was forming a rebuttal to all his points when Pyra Magna actually stood to defend Minimus and his resolution. She did so eloquently, expressing both the logical and religious implications of letting Megatron live out the rest of his natural life in humble servitude to a greater good. Instead of being kept alive, frozen and unchanging to remind them of all their missteps and misdeeds. 

In the end it came down to factions, just not Autobot vs. Decepticon. 

The council approved Minimus’s proposal, known as Item 47: Project New Haven, 18:12. Most of the people who voted in favor of it were bots who hadn’t fought in the war. All the humans voted in favor as well, which surprised him. They had suffered under Megatron’s rule personally and yet seemed to have a greater capacity to forgive, possibly because their lifespans didn’t allow time for a proper grudge. They were apparently the only species who still had hope that people could change. Bumblebee and Minimus were the notable exceptions. 

Windblade sent him a comm on his datapad full of relevant information about when and where he should meet the prison transport and what he was being allocated in resources. Of course she couldn’t tell him where they were being sent, he wasn’t even sure she knew yet. They would be leaving as soon as possible. Probably to stop anyone from having second thoughts about what they were doing. Minimus didn’t have any and he never would.

She also mentioned he would need to appoint a new delegate for New Luna One to the council. He was considering Anode. She was the lead obstetrician in charge of the forging efforts and she and Lug were doing a wonderful job of managing it all. Minimus had been handling most of the paperwork/bureaucracy and she had been down with the medics in the forge. 

He sent her a quick comm asking if she wanted the position and explaining why he was leaving. He got one back immediately.

**_Anode: Primus Mims! Do I have to do anything special? Wear a funny hat? Is there a lot of paperwork in being New Luna One’s delegate? Am I gonna have to find someone to do your job now or do you think you can keep up with all the paperwork while lightyears away and distracted by running your own planet or something? _ **

** _Also I’m so happy for you! Both Lug and I will totally come visit you two once you’re all set up just give us, uh maybe 6 months advance notice as we don’t want to leave in the middle of a new crop of sparklings. They’re clingy little darlings, as you know. _ **

Minimus chuckled at her response. Both she and Lug had been excellent at distracting him these last few years. He had avoided the nursery carefully at first but eventually Lug had cajoled him into helping out with the newsparks. The less active ones would let him hold them while he dictated notes and addendums aloud to help settle them down. He found that they also responded well to his singing of Earth songs. 

When Anode had first caught him singing she had teased him for days. Then she realized how much calmer all the sparklings had been hearing it, so even though she couldn’t carry much of a tune she had started singing to them as well. Everyone had. 

All in all it filled some of the aching hole of not being on the _ Lost Light _surrounded by friends and loved ones. Fortunately, for him, there had been mountains of paperwork to get through as it was the first forging effort in several millennia. It had honestly helped with his anxiety to have to wade through thousands of pages of regulations and stipulations. 

_Minimus Ambus: I can still handle the paperwork while I am off planet but you might want to look into hiring someone who can manage onsite operations. As for being a delegate you will have to attend meetings every couple months and vote, but you can do so remotely in most instances. There should be relatively little paperwork unless you’re drafting proposals on the planet’s behalf. No funny hats. _

_ I cannot speak on Megatron’s behalf but I know I would enjoy a visit from you both. I will prepare a proper time slot for you to come and send you a prompt invitation with adequate advance notice as I respect your work immensely. I wish you both the best of luck in your continued endeavors. _

_ Respectfully Your Friend, _

_ Minimus Ambus _

Anode sent him back a comm full of Earth emoticons blowing him little heart shaped kisses, he rolled his optics while smiling. He didn’t have much to pack and he had already said goodbye to his coworkers so instead he allowed himself a few hours recharge before going for a walk. 

Minimus didn’t consciously realize where his legs were leading him numbly through the darkened streets until he was there. 

The electrified wire gates to the prison made several concentric rings leading up to the hulking navy bulk of Garrus-10 as it sat at the head of a massive black stone plateau. Windblade sent him several dozen pages worth of legal agreements and waivers as he stood there staring up at the prison. Logically he knew he should review them now but his spark was wobbling in his chest and all he could think about was how close they were, how close they would soon be. 

Instead of signing the waivers immediately he had added the location of the prison shuttle and time it would be leaving with him and Megatron to his HUD. A little countdown timer in the upper left hand corner of his vision. He longed to be there when they woke him up. 

Minimus had been the last sight Megatron had seen when he went under and he very much wanted to be the first one he saw when he woke up. Of course Prowl had had ideas of his own on the best way to carry out this plan that he openly despised. He had wanted to add some uplesant modifications to Megatron’s frame that would help keep him trapped wherever they were being exiled to. 

Minimus had managed to stop the Justice Department from essentially collaring him with a proximity bomb around his spark...so far. Any sort of coercive measure other than not being allowed to leave the air space of whatever planet they were supposed to be on had been strictly forbidden in his proposal. He wanted him to be as free as possible. Optimus had wanted him to be entirely free. 

He couldn’t get any closer to the prison without the guard drones being notified so he stood at the far fence, at the foot of the plateau, and watched as the sky changed from purple to orange. The countdown on his HUD was beeping an hour advance warning and he smiled stroking his facial insignia. Today was the beginning of a second chance. For both of them. 

He was precisely on time, waiting outside the loading dock of a blocky gray looking prison shuttle, his hands settled behind his back at military rest. He had taken the walk over to go through all the files Windblade had sent him and sign the consent form to this permanent assignment off world, in triplicate. 

He had also packed a small blue case containing his datapad, some relevant holovids, and a minor survival and medical kit. Just in case The New Council of Worlds, Prowl, and the Justice Department decided to get nasty out of spite and drop them on a frozen or molten world. 

It was Prowl himself who would be seeing them off. 

He had the guards load Megatron onto the ship before Minimus could get much more than a quick glimpse of him. Then he started to inform him of what his responsibilities would be and the rules of what was basically their banishment. He knew all of it already, had essentially written large portions of it. He pretended to listen up until the point where Prowl’s professional tone got noticeably tighter as he mentioned he had imparted the same information he had just given Minimus to the prisoner and he had seemed to have understood it.

He was slightly smug when he spoke. ”I also informed him of the reasons for his freedom, the Last Will and Testament of our dearly departed Optimus Prime and the machinations of his _ former _ first officer Minimus Ambus. He didn’t seem to take that very well, but personally, I don’t really care. If I ever have to see him alive again it’ll be 10 million years too soon.”

Minimus wanted to rip Prowl’s head off his shoulders then but instead said through gritted teeth.“_ You. Did. What? _”

Prowl gave a half smile before waving off Minimus’s obvious fury. “I did what was right, unlike the rest of you, though I suppose that was your choice. It doesn’t matter now. I think it would be best for both of you to leave before someone, myself included, decides to shoot you out of the sky.” With that he turned to leave and the boxy brown prison guards followed him, leaving Minimus feeling smaller than usual on the loading dock. He let the rage seep out of him and away down the loading dock before walking inside. 

He passed Megatron strapped in restraints in one of the chairs but didn’t look at him as he activated the launch protocols for the shuttle. The ship had an autopilot that was to take them to their destination as Minimus still didn’t know exactly where they were being shipped off to. He hoped it was somewhere warm, though not actively on fire. 

He watched New Luna One fade into the distance and finally relaxed a little. While still worried about where they were heading at least they were safe for now. He turned to look at Megatron finally and his spark sank. His red optics were dimmed and he was staring at the wall of the shuttle listlessly. 

Minimus wanted to comfort him desperately, even though he knew he wasn’t any good at it. He had been trying to “loosen up” as Rodimus would say, but it was difficult and he still wasn’t skilled at voicing his emotions.

Instead he watched him helplessly for a minute longer before turning back to the controls to get a better idea of where they were heading. He didn’t want to think about how the locking mechanisms on Megatron’s stasis cuffs wouldn’t release until they landed, who knew when.

They were passing through neutral territory it seemed, probably on their way to some now empty world that had once been inhabited by organics. 

He wasn’t expecting it so when Megatron spoke it made him visibly jump as he whirled around to face him. His optics where now staring attentively at Minimus but they still looked impossibly empty. His voice sounded dry and rasping. “I had always suspected someone on the _ Lost Light _ would try some sort of foolish, half-cocked, jailbreak scheme. But I honestly never thought it would be you. Hello, Minimus.”

He couldn’t speak, his spark had jumped into his throat and it was pushing his vocalizer shut. Minimus stumbled over to the energon dispenser and filled a cube before walking over to offer it to Megatron. He had to get up on the balls of his feet and Megatron had to lean down slightly to reach the cube, but he drank it delicately until it was empty and Minimus took it away. 

He made to turn to refill the cube before Megatron stopped him with his voice, this time stronger than before. “Thank you but that was plenty. They hadn’t allowed me to refuel since waking me up, though I find I don’t have much of an appetite.”

Minimus set the empty cube down on the seat next to where Megatron was chained down and murmured. “I wonder if anything other than an alarm would happen if I let you out of those blasted restraints now.”

Megatron chuckled darkly. “They didn’t mention it in the briefing but I assume this whole shuttle would self destruct. No precaution too extreme when it comes to me.”

Minimus knew he was trying to make light of a genuine possibility. Which was more than a little concerning, he looked up at him and their optics finally met. 

When Minimus spoke it was much higher and strangled. “I’m so sorry.”

Megatron’s optics fluctuated on and off like he had been slapped and Minimus regretted saying it immediately, it was too late. When Megatron spoke it was low and with his head turned away from Minimus. “I wish I had been there. I know we both suspected we were destined to go together into the Allspark, most likely at each other’s hands. It seems...wrong that he...went on without me.”

Minimus had suspected his thoughts of Optimus were why he looked so devastated. To hear him say it aloud made his spark ache. Their relationship was complicated, to say the least, but Optimus and Megatron had been constant fixed points in each other’s lives for over four million years. He didn’t know what to say to someone when they had lost someone that important to them. “I’m so sorry” wasn’t enough. No words would probably ever be enough. 

Instead Minimus placed his hand on top of Megatron’s that was locked in the stasis cuffs, chained to the wall. Megatron didn’t look down at him. Instead he rotated his hand so that Minimus’s rested inside his own before he closed it gently and held it there. He could do that. Words of comfort weren’t his strong suit but even he couldn’t mess up holding his hand. 

They must have stayed like that for hours. He wasn’t sure how many exactly, but it was long enough for the ship’s proximity alarm to go off. Alerting them that they were rapidly approaching a planet. Minimus carefully removed his hand from Megatron’s and ran over to the controls to try and stabilize their descent. 

They appeared to be in the Globulous star cluster. The medium sized planet in front of them was the dusty red orange color of the Sea of Rust back on Cybertron. There were some patches of purple fauna and a few large bodies of liquid, maybe water. The ship stabilized jerkily on entry as the planet did indeed have an atmosphere. They slowed down as the autopilot appeared to be taking them towards a small silvery colored outpost style structure. It had a tall relay antenna, two small buildings and an energon pump around the back.

The ship landed safely out around the back of the buildings and as soon as the landing gear touched down Minimus hear the fizzle and hiss of Megatron’s restraints releasing themselves. He reached over to put the shuttle in stable docking mode and glanced at some of the planetary readouts from the atmospheric quality. 

Although Cybertronians didn’t breath, a toxic atmosphere could rust or melt them in seconds. All the readouts were coming back Earth-like though, to Minimus’s relatively relieved and untrained optics. So he decided to hit the docking protocol causing the shuttle bay doors to open. There was a small gust of wind when it did but otherwise nothing happened. 

He looked over just as Megatron was gingerly standing up and then rushed over to help him. Megatron tried to wave him off before Minimus stubbornly grabbed his arm and started to help him walk out of the shuttle. Megatron seemed shocked by the amount of physical support he was giving him. This made Minimus smirk. “My point one percenter spark is the load bearing kind. There’s a reason why I could operate the Ultra Magnus armor effortlessly. When functioning optimally I can deadlift 100 times my own weight. 500 times if I have adequate leverage.”

Megatron looked slightly chagrined by that at first, then returned Minimus’s smirk slyly.“I know you’ve used your strength to great effect in battle, but I admit that it never occured to me it could be useful in other...ways as well.”

Minimus had to look away so that Megatron couldn’t see exactly where his mind had gone at that suggestion. His face felt like it was burning bright pink, full of energon now. Megatron probably hadn’t meant it the way Minimus wanted him to mean it. After all, it wasn’t like Megatron had ever flirted with him before. 

Wait. _ Had he? _

Minimus suddenly realized maybe his infatuation hadn’t been so tremendously one-sided afterall. His spark stuttered and before he could stop them his vents opened and his cooling fans clicked loudly to life. That was a reaction he couldn’t hide and Megatron had definitely noticed. 

Before he could say anything Minimus almost physically dragged him down the loading ramp towards the two small buildings in front of them. It looked like some sort of science outpost. He was relieved that Windblade and Bumblebee had managed to get them sent somewhere with a little protection from the planet’s elements, whatever they turned out to be.

He couldn’t tell what the weather would be like later as it now appeared to be dusk and calm where they were. Minimus was also fighting very hard to tamp down any uncomfortable feelings he was having towards Megatron at the moment, which made focusing on assessing their surroundings more difficult. 

They approached the door, Minimus was still helping Megatron plod along, as he seemed weak from being in stasis so long, when he noticed the door appeared to be code locked. Minimus quickly searched his memories for a code to enter the building. When he couldn’t find one he had to stretch up on his tiptoes again so his optics reached the keypad, it scanned them quickly and then the door turned green before opening. 

At first it was shrouded in the shadowed light of the emergency power strips but as soon as they entered the overhead lights came on to reveal a small laboratory. When they stepped inside the door closed behind them and the laboratory hummed to life as well, the view screens and atmosphere filtration flickered on audibly. It was an older outpost but not a bad one it seemed. 

Minimus looked up at Megatron who was appraising their new home as well. Minimus watched him gaze around curiously as he spoke.“Is it alright if I go make a systems check? I think that door there leads to the living quarters and there must be a recharge slab if you need to rest.”

Megatron gently shook off Minimus’s hands which had been holding his arm and only wobbled slightly before carefully walking over to one of the lab desks and leaning against it. He huffed out. “Do whatever you need to do, you’re in charge. I am just a prisoner here, after all.”

Minimus staggered back like he had been struck. It certainly felt like he had been. His voice was quiet when he responded.“That’s not what this is.”

Megatron waved his hand as if to shoo Minimus away. “Oh I figured as much with all the proposal’s language of ‘rehabilitation’ and ‘service.’ You’re as captive as I am, sent here to fulfill some pithy lip service to a _ deity _ no one believes in anymore. There are no more Primes any more. Rodimus still doesn’t count.”

Minimus shook his head violently before he responded firmly. “No. I asked for this. I volunteered to do this so that you wouldn’t be stuck frozen inside yourself for all eternity. That wasn’t justice, that wasn’t reparative, and it certainly wasn’t right. And I used a _ Prime’s _ last wishes to free you as best any us could. This isn’t a prison; it is a duty, a way to try and make things right. I won’t apologize for what I’ve done and we’re both going to have to learn to live with it.”

Megatron looked at him harshly before ex-venting deeply. Then he put on his nonchalant attitude again. “We’re also going to have to learn how to live together then because this, right now, isn’t working for me. I was ready to die, I thought it would be the right thing to do, but the council voted to put me in the mobius generator instead. Now they want me to live exiled, isolated, mostly alone, until I die of old age or some organic induced disease. How merciful of them. To top it all off they’ve somehow found me a willing companion who is either too naive or too idealistic to realize he’s being used and discarded by them.”

No, that wasn’t what this was at all! 

He wanted to yell at him and explain to him that he had done this because it was the only option left. Yes he was selfish and foolish, but not for the reasons Megatron thought. Minimus knew exactly what he was committing himself to and he wanted to spend the rest of his days on this planet with Megatron. That he wanted to do that very badly. That together he knew they could build something amazing here on this planet that would help their entire society for millenia to come. 

How did he say all of that without making it sound like a conjunx proposal? 

It very well might be, now that he thought about it.

Minimus wasn’t ready to deal with that just yet though, especially since he wasn’t prepared to tell Megatron how deeply he cared for him. 

His voice was hard and quiet. “I chose to be here. I wrote almost that entire proposal by myself. It is not idealistic to think we can still make a difference, that it is our purpose to do so. I won’t apologize for wanting that.”

Megatron huffed, then he just shook his head. Minimus didn’t look at him as he went to run the diagnostic and inventory on the computer system in front of him. He heard Megatron shifting, then the snick of the door to the living quarters opening and closing behind him. Minimus took a quick glance over his shoulder to see that he was really gone before he sagged against the computer panel in front of him. 

What was he doing? 

Somehow he had already managed to get off on the wrong foot with Megatron. Wait was that how that idiom went? Pit. Now he was going to have to resign himself to living with someone he loved, who in turn hated him, for several thousand years until one or both of them died. Hopefully of natural causes and not gutting each other. 

The prospect was churning his tanks so he tried to focus on what the computer was telling him about the outpost and the surrounding land. They were on a planet called Diose-8, it was a medium sized rock-based planetoid capable of supporting life with an atmosphere and liquid h2O. Well, for organics it seemed very hospitable. It also had sizable scattered deposits of energon. From the log of the scientist who had previously inhabited the station the pump out back was bringing up enough to support a whole battalion for some time if needed. 

The main reason this planet hadn’t been strategically useful during the war and was mostly forgotten was because of how far away from everything else it was. The nearest space station was over 250 light years away, the nearest Galactic Council protected world 3,500 light years away. Which wouldn’t have been much to a quantum ship like the _ Lost Light _ but for their prison shuttle after it used its only jump charge to get them here, it was a long journey. 

Which would probably be one way, they wouldn’t have enough room in the shuttle to hold all the fuel they would need to get far enough away that no one would recognize them and their ship’s light jump charge was empty. Minimus also surmised that their shuttle was rigged to explode if they tried to fly it to any offworld coordinates. There would also be regular patrol scans of Cybertronian justice division ships and drones in the region checking to see if their life signs were still planetside.

They were effectively trapped here on this quiet, empty, orange dust ball. Before Minimus could have a panic attack about that, he decided to go check out the rest of the small facility for a perimeter check. He was going to save the living quarters for last for obvious reasons. 

The energon pump out back was silently churning the magenta mineral into a small refiner and there were two pipes that led back into the living quarters and the laboratory. Everything there appeared to be in working order if a bit dusty from the red sand that was the top soil on this entire planet. He resisted the nagging urge to clean it. The environmental sweep readings of the ship and the read outs the laboratory computers had given him had informed him this planet was mostly arid steps of red soil, with a few small inland seas, and larger plains of purple grass-like shrubbery. There were native life forms but most of them were small and herbivorous. Over all the planet seemed eerily silent and devoid of anything interesting. The perfect place to store bots you never wanted to see or hear from again. Minimus shuddered at the thought. They weren’t forgotten, not yet. 

There didn’t appear to be any different terrain surrounding the station, it was completely exposed, which was both a good and bad thing. On one hand they were easy to see, but then so would be anyone approaching the outpost from the air or the land. Not that he expected many visitors yet as they had to be approved by the New Council of Worlds first and could only visit during set times and for limited lengths. At least until he had constructed more permanent dwellings and facilities. That would come later. He had figured it would be just him and Megatron for a time and that thought hadn’t originally bothered him. It still didn’t, even though his companion appeared to hate the idea right now. 

Minimus approached the prison ship they had arrived on and made sure its fuel levels weren’t too depleted in case they needed to make a quick escape later. After sealing up the ship for the night he came to the realization he was still acting as if there was a war on. Old habits and old dogs dying hard, something like that, they said on Earth. He was sure Verity would have made fun of him for mangling that, although he had learned that misremembering idioms was called a malaphor. He liked that there was at least a word for it. 

He’d probably never see her again, but he had made his peace with that after the Wreckers had disbanded. So many friends out of reach, most of them forever now. 

This thing he wanted to build, to create here, seemed like a new start though. Maybe they would all see each other again someday after all. Hope wasn’t something he had ever feared to have. With that realization he made his way back towards the second building, the living quarters. 

When he entered Megatron was reclining on a recharge slab in the furthest corner of the room, his optics focused on a datapad in one of his hands with the other draped across his chest. 

Minimus caught him make a quick glance in his direction, otherwise he didn’t acknowledge his presence so Minimus ignored him as best he could as well. 

The living quarters were nicely appointed. Big enough for two or three large bots to sit comfortably around the table next to the energon dispenser. There was a large screen to watch media on the wall opposite the recharge slabs which were lined up next to each other. There were two spacious enough for two big bots to sleep front to back on, and two smaller ones for an individual or a minibot. 

Megatron had taken the largest one closest to the left back wall. Next to the smaller slabs on the right there was a doorway that led to a set of new looking washracks. This place was nicer than his apartment on New Luna One had been. He wasn’t about to say so though, after doing a quick walk around the space he sat down on the small recharge slab farthest from Megatron’s.

He decided to read as well. If this was how it was going to be the least he could do was enjoy a good novel. It was an Earth story about a crew on an aquatic vessel and their captain’s all encompassing desire to hunt a mythical water beast to the detriment of himself and his crew. It was something that seemed just fantastical enough to not be too familiar. 

Also he liked the way the protagonist spoke to the reader as if he was a dear friend. Minimus needed some friendly interaction right now even if it was only with the book on his datapad. He must have fallen into recharge at some point because he jolted awake suddenly. It was dark in the living quarters.

Immediately he turned to look at Megatron and his spark sank when he saw that he wasn’t there. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions, he should check the lab first instead of the shuttle. His worried feet carried him out the front door faster than he could argue with them.

As soon as he was outside he realized his fears were unfounded. The flatness of their surroundings allowed him to see the hulking dark shape of Megatron some distance from the outpost. Not far enough away that Minimus couldn’t see his face was upturned to the sky. He followed Megatron’s line of sight up and gasped. 

The expanse of space above the planet was ablaze with billions of stars. The inky black fabric of it only peeked through in a few places. It was beautiful and it had been a long time since he had seen a sky like this. Both Cybertron and Earth were full of light pollution so seeing the night sky was a bit difficult. New Luna One was better as it wasn’t heavily populated yet, though its sky almost looked pure black at night. He also hadn’t been inclined to look up much as of late. 

While in space on the_ Lost Light _ the vastness looked like it had less stars than it actually did because the dark void around them loomed larger. Minimus stared up for a moment before slowly approaching Megatron’s seated form. He didn’t want to disturb him. He did feel the need to be near him, just in case. In case of what his mind wouldn’t really supply but he felt the need nonetheless for the illogical nature of it. 

When he got within about ten paces he tried to speak.“Megatron?”

He held his hand up to silence Minimus, and at the same time motioned with his other hand for Minimus to sit next to him. He did so delicately, then followed Megatron’s pointing finger to a smaller star in the great expanse of the sky. 

When he spoke it was so deep and rumbling Minimus felt it through the ground they were sitting on and tried not to shiver. “See that light there? That’s Cybertron. So small and far away it seems almost insignificant. I fought a 4 million year war for it. I coveted that little light and killed millions, maybe billions, for it. One of the greatest bots who ever lived died so that that light wouldn’t go out. All the way out here among so many other stars it seems like so much wasted time, wasted life.”

He heaved his massive shoulders and continued in almost a whisper. “I should feel relieved the war is well and truly done now, without him. I just feel old. I never told him goodbye. I had thought the last time we saw each other would never truly be the last. Or I had hoped that that would be the case. I don’t know. But there is always a last time and of course I missed the opportunity to say it. That was just always how it was with us. I hated him, everyone knew that, but I also loved him. Though it has been a very long time since I was in love with him.”

Minimus didn’t dare move or speak. What Megatron was telling him was intensely intimate and private. He knew he would say the wrong thing unless he thought about it for a considerably long time. Even then he still might, as his own feelings were starting to make his spark gutter. 

After that it was quiet. The sky above them shimmering and flickering through the atmosphere of the planet. Minimus was fighting a desperate internal battle. Finally he couldn’t bear not to say anything, no matter how bad he was at offering comfort. 

He clicked and cleared his vocalizer, placing his hand heavily over his chest to soothe his aching spark before murmuring. “I do know what it’s like to not be able to have a proper goodbye. I can understand wanting to give up all sorts of things, make all sorts of promises and bargains, just to have that one chance at speaking to someone again. Have you thought about writing about it? About what you would have said if you could have? It might help.”

He watched as Megatron turned towards him, an odd look in his optics. He wondered if he’d put his foot in his mouth again. That one was definitely the correct phrasing of that human idiom, he knew that one all too well. 

When Megatron spoke there was no heat or anger in it. “All of us have lost so much and have willingly given up so much more. I know you think this is some sort of fresh start for me but what am I supposed to do trapped on this planet until my processors give out? How can I help anyone or make up for any of my many wrongs if I’m stuck here staring at all the other places out there that could use some help? As for my writing I’ve written about him more times than I can remember, pulled it up and deleted it from my processor hundreds thousands of times. Written _ to _ him more times than that and deleted those just as often. I was sitting with my datapad earlier and none of the words seemed right. There was nothing left that I could say to him or about him that I hadn’t already written ten times over. His loss has left me speechless, it seems.” 

The sheer magnitude of that came down hard on his shoulders. He should have known it would be like this. They had never talked like this until their last round of drinks together on the _ Lost Light. _At the time he had felt cheated, knowing they’d never speak like that again. But now they were and his processor was doing some heavy lifting trying to figure out what to say that wouldn’t make him come off like an insensitive bag of bolts. 

Minimus decided to change the subject as he had been thinking about the steps of his proposal. How they could still help people all the way out here. He wanted him to have read it and liked it, agreed to it. He had worked so hard to make sure it would work. That they could do something that would make a difference. 

Instead he asked. “What did you want to do before the war? Be a poet? A novelist? Or was that back during the Functionalist Regime? What about before you were taught that you should be limited in careers by your alt-mode, what did you want to do?”

Minimus knew he had been a miner but had not been satisfied with his place in the world and as such had written a great deal of very convincing and incideniary anti-Functionist propaganda. Megatron looked him directly in the optics when he responded.“I wanted to be a medic. All the schools refused to take me even though I passed all the entrance exams. It was one of the experiences that catalyzed my radical anti-Functionalist writings. When I was trapped for 700 years in the Functionist Universe I tried my hand at it, I didn’t have anyone to study from though, or any datapads on the proper methods, but I learned how to patch bots up well enough.”

Minimus almost jumped with excitement but held his composure. Learning to be a medic was something Megatron could do here if he wanted. It would work within the framework of his plan. Pit, if Megatron wanted to become a professor and poet that would work as well. Minimus’s ideas were surprisingly flexible, especially for him.

His tone was even and warm when he responded. “You can learn to be a better medic here if that is what you want to do. We certainly have the time for it. The lab has several holoprojectors and although we have limited access to the cybernet I’m sure medical training materials will be something I can get Bumblebee and Windblade to greenlight. Also I volunteer myself to help you practice any diagnostics or procedures that can’t be done digitally.”

Megatron seemed amused by his enthusiasm but his response was exasperated. “To what end? Even if I learn to be a brilliant medic to rival Ratchet himself the only people who would ever benefit from my knowledge are you and I. That doesn’t seem very philanthropic to me.”

Minimus had been waiting for that question. “I don’t intend for us to be only inhabitants of Diose-8 forever! I was organizing the housing and raising of new sparks forged on New Luna One. I now know how to run large scale medical and housing organizations. When I wrote my proposal I was hoping we’d be sent to a place like this. With its calm, quiet plains this might be the perfect location for bots fighting the ghosts of war, trying to reintegrate into society. Trying to find a new purpose, to heal. And for that we’d definitely need medics. We’d also need counselors and professors. Exo-biologists and botanists. Groundskeepers and construction and maintenance folks. All sorts of bots could be welcome to come here and work on themselves. I want this to be a sort of hub or base for people who want to coordinate rescue and disaster relief as well, sending out teams of mechs to provide aid all over the galaxy.”

Megatron scoffed and shook his head trying to brush his idea off. “I doubt a bunch of shell-shocked bots would want to come to the middle of nowhere, only to find out that the most reviled genocidal slagger in history is now their new janitor. Let alone their new doctor.”

Minimus wasn’t going to back down on this though, he squared his shoulders and sat up straighter. “That can be part of it. They may hate and fear you at first but you’ll show them, like you showed all of us, that you’re trying every day to make amends. Even though you know you can never erase what happened you can help build a way forward. And sure they may still hate you at the end of their stay here but that won’t matter. This isn’t about being liked, it’s about improving the lives of others. It is about service.”

Megatron smiled warmly at him and Minimus’s spark flickered. This time he caught his cooling fans before they clicked on revealingly. He was much worse at hiding his feelings from Megatron as his medium sized self versus when he was wearing the Ultra Magnus armor. It was a new type of vulnerability he had to be aware of. 

When Megatron spoke it was surprisingly forlorn. “Things are rarely that easy, especially things like building new relationships. That is what it will take to do something like what you’re proposing. And I’m not sure about you personally, but I’ve never been good at making long lasting friendships. That is what we will need if this is the path you want to take going forward.”

There _ was _ hope there in his words. It seemed like Megatron wanted to do something like he proposed but didn’t believe it was possible. Well, that was something Minimus had a lot of, hope. He had always had it, even during the war. It had never left him, even when he had lost his purpose as the Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord after the end of the war. Even when he had joined the _ Lost Light _ as Rodimus’s second in command on a futile journey into the unknown. Minimus hadn’t even lost it when Megatron had been condemned to eternal life imprisonment. And he certainly had it now. He was going to share it with Megatron. That much he could do. 

He wanted very badly to reach out and hold his hand as he spoke. Instead he turned to him and looked up directly into his optics.“We already have a lot friends who want to help, more than you’re probably willing to believe right now. And what else are we gonna do? Just sit out here till we rust? We have to at least try to do _ something _.”

Megatron looked like he wanted to argue but bit it back and instead grumbled. “We’ll see. You are technically in charge of this whole endeavor so I guess it’s up to you.”

Minimus wasn’t having it, he retorted quickly. “Oh no, no! We are co-captains this time! This is a joint effort, if you don’t want to do that we’ll find something else that you do want to do and we’ll go from there. We’re in this together from now on!”

Megatron smirked at that. “What if I just want to sit out here and rust?”

Minimus wanted to argue with that, instead he calmed his nerves and said. “Well if that’s what you want, I can’t stop you but I don’t have to join you.”

He hopped up and dusted his aft off before starting to walk back towards the two buildings. He didn’t stop when Megatron called his name but did stop when he grabbed his arm and spun him back around. “Minimus, wait. I’m just being contrary. Some fault in my spark makes it so I always have to be, especially at the worst of times.”

He did genuinely seem apologetic and he was about to say apology accepted. Instead he looked up and their optics met. Megatron’s concerned face shaded by a billion stars was just so beautiful he lost the ability to respond. To his utter mortification he must have been telegraphing his desire for Megatron to kiss him right then very loudly because the bigger bot let go of his arm with a soft “oh.”

Minimus’s face was burning magenta as he called out a hurried goodnight and fled back to his small recharge slab. He immediately offlined his optics as soon as he practically threw himself onto the berth. He couldn’t bear to watch Megatron awkwardly enter and make his way to his own slab. 

He heard him return though and tried to still the pounding of his spark and recharge properly but it was more difficult than it had been even the previous night when he was alone back on New Luna One. He was so close to him and his thoughts kept racing with what-ifs and what-haves. He had messed it up so early with his now easily readable face. Minimus didn’t want to ruin their friendship because he was acting like a lovestruck newspark. If things were awkward between them because of his feelings it would be excruciating to work together. Let alone live together for the next, possibly millions, of years. 

To desperately distract himself from an oncoming panic attack he checked his internal comms. He had sent one to Rodimus earlier after comming Anode with his proposal attached and all the relevant details about he could contact him and Megatron if he wanted to talk or come visit. Ominously he hadn’t responded yet. Hopefully tomorrow wouldn’t be an entire disaster. That was the hope he held onto as he fell into a fitful recharge.


	2. The Act of Intimacy

When he woke the next morning his chronometer informed him he had a full recharge of 8 hours. He hadn’t intended to sleep that long and when he got up he noticed Megatron wasn’t there. This time he wasn’t as worried about it, partially because he wasn’t sure if he wanted to speak to him yet after last night. 

He stretched and then poured a cube of energon from the dispenser before sitting down at the table and drinking it while reading his long range com messages. He had several, more than he was expecting. Two from Windblade and one from Bumblebee as well as a really quick video clip from Rodimus. It was just a blur of colors and what sounded like Earth ‘rave’ music with the caption “I bet you don’t wish you were here.” He replied to Windblade while asking for a special dispensation to access medical training materials along with a suite of architecture programs he had been using on New Luna One. 

He then sent off a comm to Ratchet to ask how he and Drift’s “honeymoon” was going. Also to, not so subtly, ask if he could send any medical texts and materials that would be helpful for a new medic. Before he thought better of it, and because he was worried, he asked if Ratchet and Drift could try to check on Rodimus as well.

To Rodimus’s video he responded with another message about how to contact him and Megatron and ended it with: “I wish you weren’t there either.” 

After finishing his energon he decided to find Megatron, but luckily he didn’t have to go far. When he entered the laboratory building he was sitting in front of a holoprojection and manipulating it intently. As Minimus got closer he noticed it was a projection of the planet they were on. 

He was about to ask what it was for when Megatron spoke, not taking his optics away from the projection. “So you finally decide to join the waking world. I didn’t expect you to be such a heavy recharger as you were always one of the first ones awake on the _ Lost Light _. Maybe it’s all that reading about humans chasing their fabled cetaceans that’s wearing you out.”

Had he been snooping on his datapad? Not that Minimus was keeping anything on it that he minded Megatron seeing. All his more embarrassing thoughts were still locked down in multiple sub-folders in his head. But that still was an invasion of privacy he wasn’t expecting. He huffed and opened his mouth to respond indignantly. 

Megatron waved a hand at him dismissively still watching the projection for something as Minimus noticed he was running a simulation on it now. “Don’t worry. I didn’t go prying through your datapad. When you fell into recharge last evening you dropped it and when I went over to pick it up and place it next to you I saw the title of the novel. I was slightly disturbed as to why you would be reading human erotica until I looked up what it was actually about, which was honestly a relief.”

It took Minimus a second to realize what he meant, but a quick search of the limited cybernet connection they had informed him that “dick” was not just a shortened form of the human name Richard. He wasn’t able to stop the high whine of his vents screeching as his face heated up. This time Megatron’s optics did flick towards him and he smiled mischievously. 

Megatron was_ teasing _ him! 

It wasn’t bad just unexpected. He was just going to have to learn to take it, without overheating at every innuendo and double entendre. If he could manage it with Rodimus he could eventually manage it with Megatron. He wasn’t hopelessly in love with Rodimus though... 

A change of subject seemed the simplest way to deflect from his very flustered reaction. He walked over to stand next to Megatron and gazed up at the simulation. “What exactly are you doing then, since you didn’t take a long recharge like I did? I imagine you’ve been at this all morning.”

Megatron nodded and moved something in the holoprojectors parameters and the simulation zoomed into the planetside and showed the relay tower and energon pump and the two buildings they were now sitting in. 

When he spoke Minimus could tell he was still paying more attention to the blue grid of the simulation than him. “After you mentioned what future you had envisioned for our little rock I read your proposal to the New Council of Worlds. Yes all 1,258 pages of it. It was hopelessly optimistic, foolishing naive of actual credit costs, and depressingly idealistic in its end mission. Though your architectural drafts were actually quite fascinating. I’d be interested in watching you work on them sometime.”

He gestured at the model in front of him and continued. “The scope and breadth of your planning was impressive, it got me thinking at any rate. I decided to run some simulations on whether or not this planet could even support a population of bots and organics safely and efficiently. So far the models look promising. The atmosphere is mostly Earth-like, slightly thinner on oxygen but it shouldn’t be a problem for most to adjust, although we can look into creating an oxygen rich atmosphere inside the buildings if we end up bringing more physically frail organics here. The average temperature is on the colder side for humans but is still habitable. As for Cybertronians there is a surprising amount of energon buried here, I can only guess as to why it hasn’t be mined thoroughly yet. The climate is within comfortable parameters for us as well.”

Minimus had forgotten how Megatron liked to insult and compliment people simultaneously. It was something he was going to have to get used to again. The part he needed to focus on was that he hadn’t said no. Hadn’t shot down all of Minimus’s plans before they had even really gotten started. Megatron had even said he liked his rather amateur architecture draftsmanship. He beamed up at him.

It felt wonderful to have a willing partner in making this situation work. More than a willing partner, an enthusiastic one. That would probably make all the difference. He caught Megatron’s optic and was about to express how happy he was that he was already so interested when his HUD pinged him with two new messages. 

He scanned the first one quickly, it was from Windblade confirming he had been granted access to medical training programs and holoprojections from the Autobot archives. The second was from Ratchet which he stored to read later. 

Minimus moved over to the computer next to the holoprojector and started opening some of the files Windblade had granted him administrative access to. He was excited when he spoke. “I messaged Windblade and Bumblebee asking for access to our Autobot medic training programs and they gladly gave us access to the archives. You can start perusing and learning various sub-routines at your leisure. That is if you’re still interested in it, you don’t have to if you’re too busy with running the models. Both tasks are important and if you need me to I can help run some of the simulations with you. I also asked Ratchet for any materials he thought relevant for a new medic to learn and I imagine his comm has a link to some of those as well. I haven’t checked it yet as I also asked him some unrelated personal questions.”

Megatron did turn to to face him then and his look was unreadable which worried Minimus for a second before he spoke. “You didn’t have to do that. I should be able to leave the computer to run several more models...thank you though...it is appreciated regardless of whether or not I show it.”

Minimus nodded and then decided to silently look at the results of Megatron’s previous projections. He was right, everything looked encouragingly favorable to building a community here. If they were going to be stuck somewhere for the foreseeable future this wasn’t actually the worst place to be sent to. 

He imagined he had Windblade, Pyra Magna, and probably Bumblebee to thank for that as Prowl would have gladly sent both of them to live on an icy world where it rained acid daily. 

He noticed out of the corner of his optics Megatron was putting some information on a portable drive and getting up to leave. Minimus didn’t want to hover so once he left and entered the living quarters he sat down at the computer and read Ratchet’s com. 

_ Minimus, _

_ When Drift and I heard what you had done we weren’t surprised but we were both worried. Although, against all odds, it sounds like your slagheaded exhile is going well so far. I’ve attached some things I’ve found helpful over the years as well as some very basic first aid manuals. The fact that this is what he wants to study now of all times is...interesting. Megatron never ceases to confound I guess. _

_ As for how we’re doing, we’re both very well. The trip to Celtrissa-X was relaxing actually, best vacation I’ve ever had. Drift wants to come visit soon but I told him there’s not much to see there on your dust ball yet. Let us know when you’ve started expanding, we’re available to assist you. I’m technically retired but I could be convinced to come out of it for the right reason. Also we miss everyone too. Any excuse to get the crew back together has our seal of approval. _

_ And we’ll check on Rodimus. To be honest your message just confirmed some sinking suspicions Drift had about what he has been up to lately. I’ll let you know how it goes. Keep me updated on the situation there and don’t hesitate to ask for anything. I know you’re both very self reliant but we’re all still out here. Still your friends who want to help, or to deliver good kick in the aft if that’s what’s needed. _

_ Kindly yours, _

_ Ratchet _

Minimus could feel his optics welling up with solvent. He quickly brushed away the liquid pooling at the corners of his optics and smiled. It was nice to know that his decision to do this hadn’t lost him any friends...yet. He wouldn’t have ever regretted this, though it would have stung to know no one besides maybe Windblade and Bumblebee supported his choice.

That thought made his optics twitch so he decided to go out and take a survey at what the planet looked like during the day. When he exited the lab outdoors he wasn’t expecting it to be so dark out already. He checked his chronometer and it assured him it was only a few hours after high noon. The sky was overcast with heavy dark gray clouds, that when he focused on them they appeared to be churning. His atmospheric sensors were informing him it was about to rain. 

Scanning the flat surroundings he spotted Megatron’s hulking figure a ways out. He wasn’t sure what he was up to as he was moving around a lot. Minimus was going to comm him instead of shout over the rising wind to warn him about the weather. That’s when he saw the blue light of a holoprojection snap and fizzle in front of Megatron.

He immediately realized he was sparring with it. Which was a bit of a surprise considering the entire time he had been on the_ Lost Light _ he had never seen him practice and Minimus had only seen him fight twice. Maybe it was something he got in the habit of doing during his time in Functionalist Universe. He was trapped there for hundreds of years, everyone seemed to keep forgetting that. Maybe it was something he used to do while fighting in the war. 

As terrifying as that might have been to someone who only knew the gray mech as Lord Megatron, or more evocatively, The Slagmaker, it didn’t bother him as much. He still had habits and holdovers from the war, it wasn’t like either of them were hurting anyone actively with them now. He decided to get closer to see what exactly he was doing as the sky started to rumble in the distance. 

Megatron was focused on dodging and parrying the hologram, it appeared to be a complicated program of feints and dodges. When he was only about fifteen paces away Minimus called out. “My atmospheric alarms have been pinging me that it’s about to storm and rain quite heavily. Are you still going to train out here?”

Megatron slid fluidly into a lunge and used his momentum to switch off the training program on the data slug hooked into the holoprojectoring hub. He stood and stretched carefully before turning to Minimus. “I was disappointingly weak after coming out of stasis yesterday and it felt right to move like this, to feel fully in my body again.”

He looked up to confirm that the sky was almost black with storm clouds. And then smiled lopsidedly at Minimus. “It does look ominous, doesn't it? I don’t think it’ll do either of us much harm though, would you care to go a round?”

Minimus’s mind went to other, more dangerous, places when he asked that. He cleared his vocalizer and looked away shyly. “I haven’t sparred in this frame type in ages, I doubt I’d be much of a challenge as I’m so rusty.”

Megatron scoffed. “I’m not so in shape myself. I won’t pressure you to. Though if you’re not interested I do need to run through this motion set a few more times before I feel comfortable enough with it to come inside.”

Minimus hesitated and looked at the bubbling sky for a beat before nodding and taking a wide defensive stance. Megatron’s optics lit up a brighter red as he took the more aggressive position. They circled each other slowly, neither one making a move just yet. Minimus had a lower center of gravity and he knew that would help in a fight against an opponent twice his size and much heavier. He was waiting for Megatron to make the first lunge. 

When he finally did lunge at him Minimus jumped back out of the wide sweep of arms. Megatron was pushing him back with every blow he dodged. They would tire themselves out too easily if they kept this up. Minimus didn’t dodge the next flurry of blows, instead he caught Megatron’s hand and flipped him. Using the momentum of the blow he threw Megatron over his shoulder. The bigger bot landed hard on his back and let out a loud groan. Minimus panicked for a second thinking he had hurt him.

Then Megatron started to chuckle from his position on the ground. He got up easily and faced Minimus again, this time in a bent kneed defensive stance. “See I just now, while lying flat on my back, remembered you mentioning you can deadlift 100 times your own weight. But it’s honestly an entirely different thing to feel it for myself. That was a surprise, but you won’t be getting so lucky again.”

Minimus just grinned at him and then went for his knees. Megatron dodged and they started the whole sequence of feint and retaliate again. It was almost like a dance. Neither one of them noticed when the rain started. It was now coming down in icy sheets. 

Minimus went in for a jab to his left hip, instead of dodging Megatron grabbed him into a hold. He wasn’t expecting it and froze up for a beat as Megatron squeezed him closer, face first against his chest. Once he snapped out of his shock that it was Megatron doing this to him he remembered the correct response. Minimus was used to this sort of thing, much bigger bots picking him up and trying to hold him still in a lock. Just because he was smaller than they were they thought they could hold him, they were very mistaken in that regard.

He planted his feet solidly against Megatron’s thighs and arched back, giving him enough room to get his arms under him and when he did he pushed off hard with both his legs and arms, doing a back-flip away from Megatron. He landed in a crouch and looked up, he had done so just in time to see Megatron looking surprised again. 

He grinned in triumph.“I spent most of the war fighting in the Ultra Magnus armor. Before that though, I fought in this frame in the Primal Vanguard. Doing so taught me how to use this body to its greatest advantage.”

Megatron nodded thoughtfully and then came charging at him again. “You were formidable, intimidating, and annoyingly self righteous in the Ultra Magnus armor. When you’re like this you seem more deadly though. You move like a Decepticon; fast, vicious, and_ light on your feet _.”

As he said the last part he rolled into Minimus and sent him flying. He hated that as he flew five meters up into the air he made an undignified squeak. He didn’t like being flung. About as much as he didn’t like being compared favorably to a Decepticon. When he landed he rolled and was about to spring up to his feet when Megatron was grappling to get on top of him again, caging him in, trying to pin him down. The terrain had become a sort of red muddy paste and Minimus had trouble getting his hands and knees back under himself. He was so distracted that only his briefest warning thoughts were about how disgustingly dirty he was about to get. He managed to flip over onto his back before Megatron had him pinned again. 

The were both ex-venting hard, cold rain sluicing down their bodies and puddling in the sloppy ground around them. Minimus was trying not to think too hard about how warm Megatron’s body was, pressed against his like this. His heavy frame crushing him down into the mud from shoulder to waist at an angle. His legs were still free though. He dug them into the slippery ground as hard as his shock absorbers would allow and arched his back, using his hips to force Megatron up and off of him. He enjoyed Megatron’s look of awe as he flipped them both, landing on top of him, pinning his arms to his sides.

Minimus felt like he had been stabbed through the spark when he looked down at him. 

Megatron was looking at him with undisguised admiration and something...darker that made his lines burn. He wanted to kiss him so badly. He unconsciously licked his lips. A tingling wave of pleasure started behind his array panel when Megatron mimicked the motion, both of them staring with wide red optics at each other.

Minimus couldn’t find his vocalizer for a moment. It fizzed on hoarsely. “Yield.”

Megatron’s optics flickered on and off as he nodded slowly. His arms were pinned to his sides, though his hands could still reach Minimus’s calves, where they were now using leverage to hold his waist down. He used them to gently stroke Minimus’s legs, making him shiver. 

That movement seemed to break whatever current was passing back and forth between them because Minimus jumped up and tried to move backwards away from him. He almost slipped and fell back into the mud, arms windmilling helplessly. Which would have been more embarrassing than thinking about interfacing with Megatron while covered in wet organic dirt. Minimus had not been imagining that...at first, and now he certainly was. 

Megatron sat up and brought one arm to rest on his raised knee while staring up at him, smiling that faint smirk again. “Looks like you won that one. It’s been a while since I’ve grappled like that.”

Minimus was trying to look everywhere around them besides directly at Megatron, his optics flickering as he mumbled. “I have _ never _grappled like that.” 

Megatron must have heard him because he raised a brow ridge and his smile grew to show his teeth. “Well. Now that I have experienced your fighting style first hand, and since we’re going to be here awhile, I’d like a rematch sometime.”

Minimus nodded in the affirmative, absentmindedly looking at his feet, trying not to blush. This was...more flirting than he had been expecting. Way more than he had been expecting, as he had optimistically, been expecting none. 

Suddenly the rain let up and a strange aqua colored mist started rising from the red earth below them. That was sign enough for Minimus to walk back, quickly, towards the building with their living quarters. He slid several times on the slick terrain but managed to make it back inside without falling. To his dismay he noticed he was tracking red mud inside their habsuite all the way to the washracks. The sight of muddy footprints was a welcome distraction, a worry he could deal with. He pinged the cleaner drone to take care of it as he quickly made his way into the room with the washracks. 

When he turned it on the solvent was pleasantly warm compared to the freezing rain outside. He was reaching for the soap nozzle when Megatron also entered the room and turned on the washrack directly next to him. He froze. There were six different stations he could have gone to. Minimus had his finger jammed on the soap nozzle as it sprayed his front with green and white suds. Megatron didn’t seem to notice his distress as he cleaned the mud off the treads on his back with the other washrack’s soap spray. He watched out of the corner of his optics as Megatron carefully ran his hands down his sides, thighs, and aft, gathering the solvent foam and spreading it over all the seams in his plating. Minimus felt all the heat that had been in his face suddenly pool hot and wet behind his array panel. He gasped and turned, putting away the soap dispenser, before grabbing the washrack’s detachable shower head and quickly cleaning himself off. His array ached far too noticeably as he walked hurriedly over to the laser drying station. 

The red beam of light, searing slightly as it flashed up and down his body, did help to calm him down a little. Unfortunately he was still uncomfortably aware of his desire as he sat down on his recharge slab and grabbed his datapad like it was his final lifeline adrift at sea. He tried to focus on the read out from the recent storm and how it had affected the planet’s ecosystem but the numbers and words swam before his optics. Minimus was still ex-venting in quick little bursts as he tried to calm down. He heard Megatron turn off the washrack and he immediately laid down and offlined his optics, going rigid on the recharge slab. He listened as Megatron moved around the room carefully, then as he turned on the energon dispenser, and presumably went back to his own recharge slab. 

Minimus didn’t dare look at him right now because he knew his exhaust fans would whine to life embarrassingly at the sight of him. He was attempting valiantly to send all the sensornet data and images that were flooding his mind to a different storage folder and not think about them so viscerally. He had a rather large subsection in his processor that he hadn’t dared open entitled: “Inappropriate Thoughts About Megatron.” It had several dozen sub-folders with different topics. He had put things in the past in there because he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to think about them again. It hurt too much. Now he wasn’t opening any of them because he was guaranteed to be within about 30 paces of Megatron for the foreseeable future. There was absolutely no way he wouldn’t notice Minimus’s very obvious distress, or more tellingly his painful arousal. 

Stars, he’d _definitely_ noticed it out in the rain. 

And that was as far as he was going to let that thought go. Minimus shoved it down into a subsection folder as he forcibly sent his body into manual recharge. Unfortunately his mind wouldn’t let him rest. 

_ He was back in the Ultra Magnus armor on the _ Lost Light _ . The hallway’s emergency lighting was flickering red and ominous, the floor in front of him was smeared with a trail of burning pink inner energon. He followed it even though he knew what he would find at the end of the trail of viscera would be horrific. He turned a corner to see Overlord bashing a bot against the wall over and over again, their head crushed in his massive fist. _

_ As soon as he turned the corner Overlord turned and grinned at him widely. He yelled as he raised his blaster to shoot but Overlord was much faster. He was already on top of him shoving his fist through his chest like it was nothing more than thin scrap metal. Overlord grinned as he ripped a large portion of his internal workings out of him and threw them at his feet. Ultra Magnus fell to his knees. Overlord didn’t wait to finish him as he walked back in the direction that he had come from and Minimus could hear more shouts and screams from around the corner. He clawed his way, badly damaged, out of the chest of the Ultra Magnus armor. Dragging his broken leg he tried to pull his crumpled body down the hallway towards where he knew the escape pods were. _

_ He stopped to look up at the bot Overlord had been beating to death and almost voided his tanks all over the floor in front of him. It was Megatron. His head caved in and crumpled, his sparkplate torn open to reveal his tiny, dying, bright green spark. Minimus climbed his way up his thighs and leaned heavily on his shoulder, trying to speak to the ever shrinking and guttering spark. There were no words but he tried desperately to find them. Reaching up he cupped Megatron’s ruined face and screamed. _

This wasn’t right_ . _

_ Megatron hadn’t been on the _ Lost Light _ when Overlord had escaped and killed this world’s Rewind and Pipes, and then destroyed the Ultra Magnus armor. Megatron’s spark floated aloft, small and fading in front of his face as Minimus tried to grab it and pull it towards his own. _

_ Please, not this, not now, not when he was so...so what? The spark died in his hands and he let out a wail that carried him back out of recharge. _

Someone was holding onto his shoulders as he struggled against them. He onlined his sensornet and out of the sound of his own cries he heard Megatron saying his name over and over again. He opened his optics to find him very close, his concerned face taking up most of Minimus’s vision. He stopped struggling and Megatron gently released him. 

Minimus murmured up at him, still raw and exhausted from that very particular dream. “It was an old war nightmare.”

Megatron nodded solemnly and made to turn, but before he could Minimus tapped his arm and closed his optics. “Stay. For just a little longer. Please.”

Megaton nodded and sat down next to the smaller recharge slab. When Minimus reached out his hand Megatron grasped it and he held it. His larger black hand firmly protected Minimus’s smaller green one. He was exhausted and didn’t think too much about what he had just asked him to do. Minimus knew that like this, when he fell back into recharge, that dream wouldn’t find him again. That was enough for now. 

When he awoke a second time that bigger, warm, hand was still holding his. He moved his own, gently brushing his fingers over the larger knuckles on Megatron’s hand in awe. The other bot stirred and looked up tiredly at Minimus. 

Neither one let go, but Minimus couldn’t look him in the optics. Instead he stared intensely down at their clasped hands. “You didn’t have to stay the whole rest of the night Megatron. You definitely didn’t recharge properly, you should-”

Megatron let go of his hand and huffed as he stood up, struts creaking slightly. He cut Minimus off. “It’s fine. It was the right thing to do. I know because it’s what you would have done for me. One missed recharge isn’t going to kill me. If it gets too bad I can just do a couple extra hours tonight.”

Minimus watched his retreating back helplessly before blurting out. “Thank you.”

Megatron looked over his shoulder and nodded, his optics tired but warm before walking towards the energon station. Minimus got up quickly and stretched before hurrying over to get his own cube of energon. They sat down together at the table and drank in companionable silence. 

Minimus didn’t know what else needed to be said because he felt like saying something but didn’t want to say too much or say something offensive. He didn’t want to ruin this genuinely warm feeling floating around them. His spark was glowing strongly. He didn’t speak, he just finished his energon and then got up to retrieve his datapad from beside his slab. 

Megatron finished his two cubes of energon and got up to go into the science lab, as the door slid open he turned to Minimus. “I’m going to start going over the files Ratchet sent over today so I might need your help later if you don’t have anything else more important to be doing.”

Minimus always had reports to write, always, but they both knew he wasn’t tremendously busy. Not yet. 

It was nice of Megatron to ask though, so he nodded and smiled. “Of course, I’d be happy to help however I can. Let me know if you need my assistance as I was going to go over some more reports from Anode. I can stop at any time though.”

Megatron returned his smile and nod and then went into the lab, when the door slid closed behind him Minimus let his grin get wider. That warm floating feeling was still there, it hadn’t left, and he wanted it to last as long as it possibly could. 

It was later in the afternoon and he was writing an official report on the planet’s rather, shockingly, massive energon reserves when the doors to the lab opened and Megatron poked his head in. Minimus looked at him hopefully and Megatron did smile before motioning for him to follow him into the other room. 

An examination slab that had been hiding in the floor rose to the center of the lab next to the holoprojector and Megatron gestured at it expectantly. “I’ve been reviewing basic diagnostic tests all morning and I’m pretty sure I can give a satisfactory physical examination at this point. I need to practice on someone other than myself though as my own anatomy is...out of many average parameters.”

Minimus’s spark lept at that, but he schooled his expression to be as professional as possible as he climbed up onto the exam table. This was going to be a quick physical exam. Just like the ones he’d gotten from Ratchet in the past, nothing too difficult, he hoped. 

Megatron’s expression of concentration was surprisingly cute as he started to wave the diagnostic wand over Minimus’s arms and chest. He’d never considered that the terrifyingly large bot could be cute. Handsome, intimidating, regal, beautiful, but cute was new. Minimus tried to keep the goofy grin he really wanted to make, as Megatron shone the diagnostic wand’s light in his optics, off his face. 

When Megatron had him open his mouth so he could investigate his throat’s energon intake processing mechanism he used his finger to hold Minimus’s chin while he shone the light inside. He didn’t know if he was doing it on purpose, but his thumb was rubbing soothing circles against the side of his jaw, barely touching his facial insignia. Minimus had to work hard not to moan. 

He very much wanted those fingers in his mouth. 

That thought tore viscerally through his sensornet. He jumped slightly and Megatron quickly removed his hand and stared at the readouts coming from the wand carefully. Minimus shoved that entire chunk of thought processing into one of the particularly deep folders in his subsection entitled “Megatron’s Big Hands.” Now was not the time. 

After he was satisfied that he was reading everything correctly he examined Minimus’s range of motion, moving his arms and legs carefully in multiple directions. Again Minimus had to fight the urge to vocalize static nonsense, as every place he touched him his plating burned. Megatron’s gentle ministrations, stroking the seams in between his joint plates, were driving Minimus to terrible distraction. He had never been tactile in the Ultra Magnus armor but he knew this form and his irreducible form were much more sensitive to touch. They responded to it in frustrating ways. The pleasurable feelings of it were too much for what they were actually doing, but ultimately far too little for him. 

Megatron removed his seeking fingers and Minimus almost heaved a sigh of relief before Megatron looked down at the diagnostic wand’s read out and frowned. “Minimus you’re running hot, is something the matter? Do you feel lightheaded, is your spark bothering you, are any of your mobile joints hurting? I noticed they were surprisingly pliant during the exam, any localized weakness?”

Oh Megatron was definitely making him weak kneed and lightheaded. His spark was vibrating hard in his chest, he most certainly couldn’t tell him that though. Instead he hopped down from the exam table lightly and said as cheerfully as he could. “I feel fine Megatron, that was a very comprehensive exam. Ratchet couldn’t have done it any more text book to the letter!”

Megatron looked at him dubiously while raising his diagnostic wand towards him, it beeped loudly. Minimus began backing up towards the door outside. When he spoke it was way too quickly. “I’ll just being going out to check on the energon pump, I got some readings earlier that there might be a kink in one of the hoses. Again, that was a very thorough and efficient exam!”

The last sentence was said as he hurriedly closed the door behind him. Thankfully it was cold outside. The storm from yesterday had ushered in a cold front and Minimus wouldn’t have been surprised to see it snowing soon. He made his way over to the energon pump as heat came streaming off his body, he ex-vented into the crisp air. He did a quick diagnostic on the pump, it did have a small crimp but not enough to obstruct optimal flow, he hadn't been lying. Then he sat down beside it on one of the platforms built into it so you could climb down into the ground if you needed to. It was still so quiet here. 

This solar system’s red sun was low and the cornflower blue of the sky was turning purple and pink behind a wall of thick gray clouds. It was soothing, it was a nice sight. He focused on the sky and the temperature and the small flecks of white snow as they started to drift down silently. He stayed there thinking of nothing, trying to think of nothing at least.

The sun had set and it was getting noticeably colder. His HUD beeped a warning that it was getting close to a temperature that could affect a bot’s energon lines if they stayed out in it too long. He took a steadying moment and then walked back towards their living quarters. When he entered Megatron was on his slab reading something on his datapad intently. He looked up at him, nodded in acknowledgement and then went back to reading.

Minimus took that as his cue to remain silent and get ready for recharge. He went into the washracks for a quick hose down and warm dry off after being out in the snow flurries. Even though it had been light snow his HUD informed him that eventually, if left undisturbed, that organic compounds in the precipitation here would rust him. 

When he came out of the washracks he grabbed his datapad and laid down to read, dimming the living quarters lights as he did. He was almost done with his Earth novel and was wondering what to read next when all of a sudden he fell into full deep recharge.

_ This wasn’t a dream it was a memory, or at least part of one. He remembered chewing Rodimus out for leaving Megatron stranded in the Functionist universe. They had all managed to flee unscathed because he stayed behind and fought to keep the tides turned but there was enough time for him to join them on Luna 2. They hadn’t waited long enough, they should have waited longer. He knew now they had waited as long as they could but he was angry and scared and had taken it out on Rodimus, to his shame. _

_ Terminus did lead Megatron to the wrong teleporter but if they had waited...no he knew now none of them would have returned. It wasn’t fair. Minimus had been in the Ultra Magnus armor and had towered over Rodimus pointing his finger angrily at his chest. _

_ The memory melted and dripped away to when they were reunited. Megatron had spent 700 years in the Functionist universe helping the rebels survive. Everyone who came over with him looked and him with awe and admiration. He had never asked Megatron what he had done for those 700 years. Terminus wasn’t with him when he returned. Minimus hadn’t had the time or the forethought to ask what had happened to him there. _

_ Soon the _ Lost Light _ was being dismantled, Megatron was taken into custody by Prowl. _

_ Another memory, him and Rodimus passionately defending Megatron during his second trial. The Galactic Council agreeing to put him in permanent stasis in the mobius generator as an “example for all time.” He missed him deeply. Had actually cried. _

_ He read “ _ Afterlight _ ” over and over hearing his favorite words with _ his _ voice now. Minimus had been an absolute mess. _

_ He wasn’t the only one. He and Rodimus had wallowed in their misery after the end of their journey. They had both lost a family and neither one of them had anyone to come home to anymore. But Minimus had always been good at bureaucracy. He found a job in the New Luna One repopulation effort and had thrown himself into it to forget. Lug and Anode had been there to try and help him through it, but never to forget. Sometimes he daydreamed about Megatron being there with him helping, bringing new life to Cybertron and the Earth. Trying to make up for the billions of lives that the war ended. It’s what Minimus had wanted him to do but the council vetoed it. _

_ No one could really even weigh the true heft of all the pain, suffering, and death that he had inflicted. Yet they thought they knew how he should be forced to atone for it. _

_ Minimus had been souring on the functioning of Cybertronian law since they had taken down Tyrest the first time. That had been his first crisis of faith in it, followed quickly by his second, in getting to know Megatron. People deserved to change, to be allowed to change. That’s what it had really said in Optimus’s will. That all the prisoners of war, all the old enemies, all the criminals deserved a new start. They deserved to be able to try to be better than they were before. _

_ Soundwave’s Sanctuary Station had been a just idea and a good start to living that new life. That was why those who had survived Unicron were currently rebuilding it for those who had lived and flourished there. Soundwave was another bot that had shown he could change for the better and wanted to keep doing the right thing. They called him The Last True Decepticon but Minimus suspected now that it was less of an insult and more of an honor. Soundwave represented what Megatron and the Decepticon cause had originally been about, freedom to live as you choose. _

_ So many examples of bots being allowed to make amends, to rebuild, to heal and yet no one wanted to give that to one of them who needed it most. Who wanted it. _

_ Megatron had wanted to try and make it right for the rest of his life and they didn’t want to let him. It had been a terrible blow to everyone who knew him. Optimus never showed up for the new trial even though he had been summoned to testify. He hid out on Earth. Minimus knew why. He hadn’t wanted to see the final outcome. _

_ Maybe that was when he had updated his will, maybe that was what it had said for years, who knew with Optimus. But he didn’t want to see what they did with Megatron because he knew, deep down in his spark, whatever it was he deserved it too. They all did. The war had been vile on both sides even if the Decepticons had escalated it many times. And Megatron was to blame, of course he was, but he wasn’t the only one. Prowl came to mind. Yet this was how everyone decided it should be. _

_ Rodimus, drunk and angry, had ranted about how it wasn’t fair, how none of it was fair. Minimus had agreed and had tried to talk him down. He didn’t remember most parts of their bender but he remembered the anger and the grief. He feared Rodimus had never stopped remembering. The memory of the bars and the glowing engex they had pounded fell away. _

_ He was back to his recharge slab in the living quarters of their new home. Megatron was sipping from a cube of energon while reading something on his datapad and he hadn’t noticed Minimus had woken up yet so he just watched him from across the room. He eventually felt his optics on him because Megatron looked up and smiled at him. It made his spark swell and he smiled back. This was real. This was theirs now. _

When he woke up his optics felt raw and sore. He reached up and brushed away solvent leaking from them. He hadn’t had a dream like that in over a year. The nightmares had been more regular. He looked up and Megatron wasn’t in the living quarters with him.

It was silly but he found himself wishing they could wake up at the same time. The next thought in that particular line was whether Megatron was getting enough recharge at night. He didn’t want to fuss over him as that would more than likely end badly, but he worried. 

Just then he heard a loud crash from the laboratory next door and some even louder swearing. Minimus hopped up and rushed in to see Megatron on he knees among some shattered glass on the ground trying to pick up the pieces himself. He was about to get down and help him when he hesitated, among the glass shards were several different colored liquids. 

He crouched down but didn’t touch the broken glass when he spoke, concerned. “What did you drop? Do you need me to get the decontaminant foam?”

Megatron shook his head angrily and off-vented loudly before looked up at him. “It wasn’t anything we’d need to be worried about which is why I’m just picking it up by hand instead of initiating clean room protocols. I’m more frustrated with myself than these blasted samples.”

With that Minimus leaned over and started helping him pick up the glass shards. When they had gotten most of them and dumped them into the recycling unit in the wall. Megatron then pressed the button for the floor sweeper drone to come out. They watched the little round machine clean up the glass too small for them to grasp silently. 

It was Megatron who broke the silence by addressing him seriously. “It’s my slagging hands. They’re dexterous to be sure, though too big and too clumsy. They’re not careful. I’m not careful enough for this. I’ll hurt someone if I keep doing this.”

Minimus shook his head exasperated. “You’ve just started to practice! You’re not telling me you’re ascribing to Functionist notions of form dictating function about your own hands are you?! You know; even though Whirl doesn’t have hands anymore, I heard it from Cyclonus he has taken up chronosmithing again. You can’t expect to master all of it immediately. This is something you want to do, why give up now?”

Megatron suddenly whipped around slammed his hands down on the computer desk in front of him. “I’ve already failed at this so many times already, more times than you can know. It’s just more evidence that I wasn’t meant to do this. I’m not giving up, this just isn’t working.”

Minimus had a sinking suspicion in his fuel tanks that he was no longer talking about learning to become a medic, if he ever had been. When he spoke it was determined and low. “Is this how it started before? You wanted to set people free, cure society's ills, allow all Cybertronians to become equal. When did that change? When did it become ‘peace through tyranny instead of just peace?”

Megatron’s hands dug into the metal of the desk in front of him so hard it made the material squeal and groan. He spoke through gritted teeth. “That isn’t the same thing and you know it. It might be a good idea for us to...change the subject.”

Minimus wasn’t having any of it, he was mad now. “No! No we’re not going to avoid this like some sort of dirty secret. If you’re not good at gross medical care or lab work fine. Not every medic is good at the same things. There are other specialties. Maybe, maybe something more... philosophical? Have you considered psychiatry? That was one thing we sorely missed on the _ Lost Light _. A psychiatrist.”

He felt odd as soon as he said it, although it was the truth, they had never had a psychiatrist on the ship. 

Megatron scoffed at first, then stopped. He watched his face as its expression calmed. “You really want to make this all work somehow? Make me a part of this grand project of yours any way you can?”

Minimus rolled his optics skyward and huffed. “Yes, yes of course! What I actually want is your input, your help, as well as your involvement. I want you to want to work with me build this place, our project, this modest new hope for a better way forward.”

Megatron’s red optics glowed brightly as he looked down at him. “So you, the former Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, want me, the former genocidal Warlord of the Decepticons, to help you build an alternative to imprisonment for convicts and ex-soldiers and provide humanitarian aid across the universe? Is that the gist of what you’re proposing?”

Minimus looked away from his intense gaze and grumbled. “You can just say you don’t want to, you don’t have to mock me over it.”

He heard Megatron move and jumped a little when he took his hands that were at his sides in his own larger ones. Minimus looked up into his optics in shock as Megatron spoke fondly. “My dear Minimus, I’m not mocking you, not truly. I’ve been a party to a great many absurd schemes in my life, not just since joining the _ Lost Light _ either, but this isn’t one of them. Maybe a little overly ambitious and optimistic, but it’s not a bad idea. I’d be honored to try and help you achieve it. Whatever that entails.”

His spark shone brighter at Megatron’s words, he wanted to kiss him again. Instead he tugged on his hands to bring him closer and then hugged him. Megatron went completely still and Minimus quickly let go of his chest and stepped back awkwardly away from him. He was just so happy! He hadn’t meant to overstep any boundaries and was about to apologize when he looked up and saw his expression. It was full of something other than shock. He was looking at Minimus like he hadn’t seen in him a long time, optics running over his frame hungrily, memorizing all the details.

He felt all his energon rush to his head and he swallowed hard twice before he spoke. “Well. Good then. That’s wonderful actually. I’m incredibly pleased you want to work on this with me. Really. Very excited to start building things. I have so many spreadsheets and schematics.”

He turned abruptly to leave and almost made it to the door before Megatron’s voice stopped him. “I look forward to working with you as well. Also, if you’re going to hug me again you can take your time. I don’t mind the contact.”

Minimus nodded his head in the affirmative slowly before fleeing. He knew his green faceplate was burning up bright energon pink as he walked briskly outside. It was still blessedly cold outside, the sky was still overcast, no snow was falling this time though. He made his way to the prison transport ship, maybe he should start thinking of it as the shuttle. Once inside he locked the loading doors and sat down at the chair in front of the console heavily. 

Megatron wanted to build this way forward with him. He had been so worried about trying to convince him to go along with his plan that he immediately felt lighter. They had so many hurdles ahead, and he knew they wouldn’t always agree, but overall he felt energized. He had a partner. Well a co-worker, he wasn’t willing to go that far yet. 

Although Megatron had seemed amenable to some of that thinking as well. That sent his processor spiraling into the implications. Megatron wanted him to hug him more. Megatron had called him “my dear Minimus.” He might have been half-joking with that one but he was still counting it, searing the memory of him calling him that in his processor. And instead of fighting they had...compromised. 

That was just as exciting as all the other possibilities his mind kept spinning up. They were going to need a lot of that in the coming years. The relief of him not hating him also felt fantastic. He would never have left him, it would have hurt immeasurably, he would have stayed even if he hadn’t wanted to work with him. Had hated him. But he didn’t! Minimus knew his mind would twist itself into all sorts of knots trying to work out how he had succeeded or why. So instead he comm’d Anode. 

The long range video call took a moment to synch up but when it did her gray and brown head fuzzed into frame and she smiled at him. “Minimus! How’s it going!? Is everything alright, I’ve been getting your paperwork updates but I wasn’t expecting a video call.”

He was suddenly embarrassed that he was bothering her with such a small thing, even though he needed to tell someone. As close and he and Rodimus were he didn’t feel like he would quite understand yet. Fortunately Anode and Lug’s gentle teasing and overwhelming kindness had won him over and they had become his friends. If not his family on New Luna One. They had helped him process and name his emotions better. He felt like he belonged when he was working at the repopulation headquarters. All of them shared the same important mission after all, to bring new Cybertronian life into the world. 

Now he had found a new quest. To keep Cybertronian life moving forward, growing, healing. It was just an important and he had managed to convince the person he wanted approval from the most that it was a good idea. A worthy idea. 

He was still elated, if self conscious. He bit his lip as he spoke. “He agreed. He wants to work on building the center here with me!”

Anode squealed and then ducked out the frame for a few moments, Minimus could hear her calling out to Lug to come over quick, that Minimus had good news. They both came back into the frame and Lug was smiling and carrying a blue and black colored sparkling. They all had big round optics and thin features in all sorts of different colors, it was odd. 

They both looked at him expectantly and he smiled back. “He said yes. Megatron wants to work with me here.”

Lug bounced the sparkling that was almost as big as she was on her hip and laughed. “That’s wonderful Minimus! I’m so happy for you both! Although the way Anode was talking it sounded like you had finally asked him to be your conjunx and he had said yes.”

Minimus squeaked at that and Anode laughed. “Aww come on Lug! You know him as well as I do. It’s one kind of proposal at a time for Minimus. But since she brought it up, how’s _ that _ going? You two playing nice?”

Minimus groaned and covered his face with his hands. Both of them laughed at his response and Lug spoke first. “You’ve gotten so much better at voicing your emotions, I’m sure everything is going really well. You don’t have to tell us all the details,”

Anode interrupted her. “Uh yeah you do, spill!”

Minimus made a muffled sigh through his fingers, then took them away and looked up. “I mean we’re not fighting which is good I suppose. There have been moments were I could of sworn he was flirting with me...but I’m sure he doesn’t know how I feel.”

Both Lug and Anode spoke in unison. “Oh he knows.”

Minimus coughed and looked away from the camera light. “Well. Be that as it may neither one of us is acting on it. Besides, we have more important things...than that to be doing.”

Anode bit down on a snickering laugh while Lug looked at him with an affectionate smile, shifting the sparkling to her other hip. “Minimus, he’s being a gentlemech and letting you set the pace. He doesn’t want to cross any boundaries with you because he cares for you. My bet is he’s been prompting you, flirting like you said, and he’s been waiting for you to respond. When you do I think it’ll make both of you very happy.”

Minimus croaked weakly. “You really think so?”

Anode cut in. “Oh for sure! You’re a catch Minimus! Seriously. If I wasn’t only into ladies, and already married to the love of my life raising half a million babies, I would totally ask you out!”

Minimus gave a weak laugh at that. He had barely laughed before and now it came so easily. Maybe he was ready now. Ready to go a little bit further. Be a little bit bolder. If they were right then it wouldn’t be rejection waiting for him if he tried. 

He nodded in the affirmative slowly. “I’m not entirely sure you’re right but I am willing to try. Flirting back a little bit that is. Maybe. Perhaps sometime in the next five hundred years.”

Anode groaned and Lug grinned at him before she spoke. “Like I said he’s waiting on you. However long that takes. I think you’ll find that waiting that long might fray both your data cables too much though.”

Anode gave Lug a sideways smirk. “She’s an expert you know. Asked me out first, then proposed first and everything.” 

Lug rolled her blue optics fondly. “She’s making it sound way bolder than it was. I was panicking both times. Also we technically both proposed at the same time, talking right over each other. Then she asked me to say it again first, that this time she would be quiet.”

Anode placed her hand on her conjunx’s shoulder and smiled down at her lovingly. “Perfectly romantic in every way. Don’t worry Mims! You’ve got this! Just be honest about how you feel and what you want and everything will eventually work out. It already did with your work proposal. Why not try a different sort of proposition next?”

She winked a blue optic at him and he huffed an exasperated laugh. “You’re a proper menace you know that? I’m sure you could give Rodimus a run for his money when it comes to teasing me but I don’t want to see you try. You and Swerve’s prank war was more than enough one upping for my circuits to handle. It was good to speak with you both...I just wanted to share my good news with some friends. I’ll leave you to get back to work though, as I know for a fact you have your hands full.”

Anode gasped, mock shocked, her optics dancing. “Why Minimus Ambus I do believe that was a joke? Word play? What is this universe coming to!?”

Minimus snorted. “Seeing as how the universe almost ended hmmm, four times in the last ten years I doubt my rather dry humor is going to cause a fifth such event.”

Anode put a hand to her forehead and swayed back dramatically. “Sarcasm and snark! Oh my poor spark, who is this fun Minimus Ambus!? Where was he when we were trying to take him out for drinks and dancing?”

Minimus rolled his optics and Lug grabbed Anode’s arm with her free hand not carrying a sparkling who was watching them owlishly. “Oh leave him alone! He’s happy! And that’s wonderful. Really we’re both so glad it’s going well. _ Both _ of us need to get back to work. Please call again soon though!”

Anode nodded and wrapped the arm she was tugging on around her shoulders. “Yes! All teasing aside I’m so happy for you, call whenever you need to and we’ll pick up. Possibly surrounded by twelve newsparks singing, but we’ll pick up.”

Minimus smiled at both of them before bidding them goodbye and turning off the video transmission. The sun had set while he had been in the shuttle, as he made his way towards the building it started to flurry again. He briefly wondered if this planet had seasons like Earth. 

He was still happy and probably a little too giddy as he entered their shared living quarters. Megatron was propped up against the wall on his berth reading something on his datapad. Minimus wanted to talk to him, about anything really, instead he picked up his own datapad from his subspace and got into his own berth. He sent a quick message to Windblade and Bumblebee explaining that Megatron was on board and to loop him in on all future planning conversations. 

He sent Ratchet, and especially Rodimus, vague comms about them working together on his plan and how excited he was about it. He’d gotten enough teasing from Anode as it was. 

He was about to shut off his datapad and dim the room’s lights when Megatron spoke. “Working on something important?”

Minimus’s spark thrummed as he cleared his intake and responded carefully. “Just some official comms to Windblade and Bumblebee. I asked them to loop you in on our future planning conversations and gave them your official hailing frequency, I hope that’s alright. I’ve also been keeping up with Ratchet to check on how his and Drift’s ‘honeymoon’ is going.”

Megatron turned to look at him and his optics flashed a brighter red. “I look forward to working with them. I have no idea how Bumblebee rejoined us in the land of the living but I’m glad to hear it. Also you should assume I’m completely ignorant when it comes to the personal matters of our ex-crewmates. If there’s something you think I should know feel free to tell me.”

Minimus cringed, of course Megatron didn’t know Drift and Ratchet had gotten married. He hadn’t been there for the ceremony, everyone else had been though. Rodimus had been morosely looking at Megatron’s empty seat and playing with a rather beat up looking Rodimus star in one hand the entire reception. 

He had also consumed entirely too much engex. Minimus didn’t have the spark to confront him about it then, though he should have. His spark dropped, he belatedly wondered if Megatron knew who else besides Optimus had died fighting Unicron. 

He knew his face wasn’t reassuring as he tried to look him in optics, his own red ones flickering in sorrow. “The wedding was a beautiful affair. It was the first time all of us gathered together again after the dismantling of the_ Lost Light. _ I cannot be 100% certain but I think quite a few other relationships were declared that night. I do know Cyclonus and Tailgate invited everyone to a more subdued sparkbonding ceremony that we all attended several months ago. It was also lovely.”

First the good news now the bad. “Have you...do you know who else lost their lives protecting us from Unicron?”

Megatron ex-vented deeply. “I’m glad they are all finding some happiness. As for Unicron, I know it was naive of me but I was hoping Optimus, delightfully idealistic fool that he was, happened to be the only one to make the ultimate sacrifice in the end.”

Minimus met his gaze solemnly. “Shockwave and Starscream did as well.”

Megatron’s optics widened in genuine shock as he murmured. “Shockwave... truly? I thought after the singularity he was...well the_ Lost Light _ missed a lot while we were gone. But Starscream too?”

Minimus nodded. “It was a surprise to the rest of us too, believe me. But in the end he did the right thing for everyone, not just himself. And Shockwave...he got his emotions back somewhere among all the time and space jumping. Skyfire was there and he said he did it for Orion. I’m not sure I believe in the Afterspark but if there is one, perhaps Senator Shockwave has found Orion Pax there.”

Megatron rumbled thoughtfully although he suddenly looked exhausted, smaller, leaning back against the corner of the wall his berth rested against. “What about Rodimus, how is he faring? I’ve been trying to comm him since we got here but he hasn’t answered, which I find more than a little troubling.”

That made his tanks run cold. Oh he had hoped that wasn’t the case but now that he had confirmation that Rodimus was avoiding them both he was even more worried. 

He didn’t want to alarm Megatron even more though so he said. “Not well I’m afraid. I asked Drift and Ratchet to check on him though as he won’t listen to anything I try to tell him. Especially not when it comes to his own well-being, specifically his lack of proper recharge and engex only diet. But at least, Primus forbid it, he’s not dead.”

Megatron’s shoulders slumped even lower and his optics dimmed. “I can’t help but feel I failed them all. I wasn’t able to become what anyone wanted of me, not in the end, and I didn’t care about that until a few years ago. I am going to keep trying though, at least where the crew of the _ Lost Light _ is concerned. They all deserve the effort, I’ll keep trying to connect with Rodimus.” 

Minimus’s spark ached for him so much. He knew what it felt like when many of your friends from the war were dead. Kup had been a blow to his spark. He had even grieved for Impactor when he learned about him from Verity’s comm. Minimus wanted to hold his hand at least, like he had held his after that nightmare. 

Instead he turned to face him, hands fidgeting nervously in his lap. Megatron’s optics eventually refocused on him, sharp and clear, and he looked fond when he spoke to him. “Thank you for telling me...about their losses and the state of things. I prefer to hear it from you, rather than the news feeds or Prowl, at any rate.”

Minimus was too far away, it would be extremely transparent if he bolted across the room to take his hands in his. He wanted to anyway. Maybe that’s what being in love was truly like. Wanting to do foolish, embarrassing, tender, comforting things because you cared for someone.

He clutched his hands together tightly and murmured “You’re most welcome. Goodnight Megatron.” before dimming the lights and laying back on his recharge slab. 

He wasn’t expecting it, Megatron murmured “goodnight” as well. He offlined his optics and tried to fall asleep. He wasn’t sure how long he laid there but eventually he heard Megatron rise and leave the living quarters for the lab. He knew he didn’t sleep as much as he did now, though he still worried. Minimus was concerned and wanted to help. He knew that in order to recharge he would have to do it manually, he was simply too anxious otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helenadorf did the amazing art for this fic and her embedded art can be viewed in closeup here. https://helenadorf.tumblr.com/post/187098285623/heres-the-first-illustration-for-tfbigbang-and
> 
> She did such an amazing job! Both images are perfect!!! 
> 
> As for chapter notes I feel like most of this one speaks for itself. This update is pure fluff and UST. I love them flirting...well Megatron flirting and Minimus dying. They're tender and cute and I just *sigh* old gay dads are great. I warned y'all in the tags that this is just self indulgent fluff and smut right??? Like I'm going full speed into the schmoop zone. There will be only good times ahead!!! I love all these wonderful robots and just want them all to be happy together. 
> 
> And I wrote a little side fixit fic for ShockOP in this cannon, I'll be posting it later this week in "Without Love There Is No Meaning" so subscribe to that collection if you want to read it as well.


	3. The Act of Devotion

After their conversation that day things changed. Surprisingly for the better. They worked well over the next two weeks together, running simulations and taking samples of soil and atmosphere. Minimus sent off the lab’s drones to map the surrounding terrain. There was a large body of liquid water about 90 kilometers to their north. He and Megatron both took the shuttle to visit it and collect flora and fauna data. It was a warmer day so the ice that was sloshing around in the water had receded significantly, leaving blue and white islands of it floating in the distance. 

After they finished collecting samples and readings they sat down on the ground and listened to the sound of the waves hitting the sandy orange shore in companionable silence. Minimus knew it was silly, they had come there for work, they didn’t need to stay. He had thoroughly enjoyed sitting there in the sun on the cold ground next the Megatron though. And he was pretty sure Megatron had as well even though they didn’t speak the whole time. They both just sat close together and watched the water. 

Logically he knew he probably shouldn’t think of it as a date, he hadn’t been on any to compare it to, but it felt like one. Well the last part definitely had. As the sun was setting over the water, turning it navy and purple in the fading red light he had stood and tried to brush the sand from his legs and aft. 

He muttered as he did. “Sometimes I forget how beautiful a planet’s landscape can be when nothing is happening. Just sitting still, enjoying, watching it shift and change. I suppose all the sand in my seams was worth it.”

Megatron looked up at him, his optics burning as they slid over his frame. “Yes, I agree. I do so enjoy taking the time to appreciate all the beauty around me. Oh and Minimus, if you need any help getting that sand out, do let me know.”

Minimus’s face burned as he felt his cooling fans try to click to life. He took a few steps back from Megatron, who rose to stand. Minimus knew that Lug and Anode would be yelling at him to flirt back. That was definitely flirting, even he recognized that, but he...couldn't. He didn’t know how to without making a fool of himself and not coming off particularly flirty. 

Megatron addled and agitated his processor like no one he’d ever met. And that was saying something as he was best friends with Rodimus. When they were having planning discussions or even philosophical ones he could handle himself admirably, professionally. But the minute all that charm and eloquence was turned to focus on him, speaking those compliments and praise to him. Well. That was... 

Something else entirely. 

Lug was right. All the evidence was staring him in the face with heated red optics. Megatron wanted him the same way Minimus wanted Megatron and was trying, valiantly, to get him to make the first move. Which should have been amazing news! Really the best news he’d heard in years! 

Instead it made his spark pound and his mouth go dry. How did you court someone you’d fallen in love with years ago but had never even really shown any noticeable interest in dating? How did you even admit it without pushing them away with the strength and depth of your emotions far too soon? Pit, how did you even tell them period? 

Minimus had read plenty of novels about love. He had scoured every love poem in every language he could decipher, and now every song he could find. None of it seemed adequate for his confession. Partly because he didn’t feel like he was adequate.

Minimus nodded abruptly at Megatron and then hurried back to the ship. Once again retreating like the coward he usually wasn’t. His feelings were clouding his normal composure and he hated it. The silence in the shuttle was awkward as he fretted over what to say or do. He thought entirely too hard about everything. It was much too late to come up with some sort of coy line now. 

He was simply no good at this. 

Yet it never occurred to him to give up. Failure was an option but not trying at all never was. Minimus wasn’t someone who gave up just because something seemed difficult, terrifying, and impossible. He had been in charge of the Wreckers for years after all. And he imagined that if he got this right it would be a far more pleasurable experience than anything he’d ever done on a Wreckers mission. 

Oh Primus...he was going to have to ask someone for advice. On how to flirt with Megatron. 

He knew that Anode and Lug would give him good counsel, Rodimus would give him terribly mortifying tips, and Ratchet would give him practical, no-nonsense advice. He could probably use all of it, the more data the better. 

Then a strangely appealing thought struck him. What if he asked Megatron how he wanted him to flirt with him. Could he do that? Did that count as flirting, in a roundabout way? Could he even manage to ask such an intimate thing in the first place? This was all far more difficult than it should have been. He was over six million years old and he was behaving worse than a newspark. He would know, he had been helping raise them until recently.

Minimus walked back to his berth stiffly and flopped down onto it in an uncharacteristically sloppy manner. He was feeling far too dramatic for his own struts and dignity. Megatron was politely not watching him as he got ready for recharge. Minimus scooted up towards the head of the slab and laid down on his back. He offlined his optics as he heard Megatron start to write on his datapad with a stylus. 

He only did that when he was writing prose or poetry. Never with reports or work related documents. He offlined his optics and listened to the tap and swirl of it over the surface of the device. It was oddly soothing. He wasn’t sure how long he had been laying there listening when he finally heard him stop. 

He onlined his optics and turned his head in time to see Megatron dimming the lights in the living quarters. “Do mind me asking what you were writing?”

Megatron visibly jolted at the sound of his voice, though he kept moving and sat back down on his recharge slab. He leaned back against the wall and offlined his optics before ex-venting. He then began speaking in a soft, low tone.

_ A single tale of endless words, countless beginnings, fair first starts. _

_ Leap through the Light, a shining flow _

_ All broken things; toy soldiers, their sparks _

_ Are mended as we go. _

_ Slip down the stream, cross hopeless home, and rising veils _

_ Float faithful, fearless, ever on, my beloved friends _

_ It was us who began this tale _

_ And without all of us as one, _

_ there can be no end. _

Minimus’s spark thrummed loudly in his chest, his voice was choked when he spoke. “That was beautiful. All your poetry is, but that one was truly sublime. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

Megatron onlined his optics and huffed, his voice full of amusement. “It’s not nearly done but I appreciate your opinions regardless. You’re always honest in your critiques and assessments. Although, I’m curious if your love of my writing extends to all the anti-Functionist, pro-insurrection poems I wrote while forming the Decepticons.”

Minimus snorted and both of them startled at the noise before they laughed. It was like a wave breaking over them and flowing away. He felt that same bubbly, floating feeling as before. He was happy. Happy just to be here talking to Megatron before falling into recharge. He could have this, for now, it felt amazing. 

Then it hit him. This could be flirting too!

It didn’t have to be all innuendo and double entendre, it could just be genuinely complimenting each other. That he could do! He had meant it when he said all of Megatron’s poetry was beautiful. It was the truth. It might be more embarrassing to tell him _ he _ was beautiful but that was true too. Minimus felt like he might have figured something out, this kind of flirting might be more his style. 

He turned his head and looked at him, their red optics meeting in the darkened room. “I’d be lying if I said I _ approved _ of everything you’ve written but all of it is expertly executed, movingly said, and contains an eloquence and veracity that can’t be mimicked. I know, I’ve seen many try, I’ve tried. Your work is masterful. I meant what I said before, all of it is beautiful.”

Minimus watched his face bloom with shock and then turn slightly pink. It had worked! 

Being sincere worked for him. He could do this! Perhaps saying more adventurous things plainly would work as well. Like if he prompted him for a kiss next time he wanted one. Minimus suspected that might go over well, if he could summon up steel to ask.

Megatron was smiling at him fondly now and Minimus smiled back. Megatron’s voice was a deep bass rumble when he spoke. “Thank you. It is...nice to be able to write again. For a long time it seemed like nothing would work right, everything I wrote was doomed to failure. Sometimes they hurt in their passing through me, but the words come easier now. I have the time to get them right, which as it turns out makes all the difference. Thank you for giving me the time again, Minimus.”

He knew they were talking about writing, he could also feel them talking about something else. His spark fluctuated abruptly and his vents stalled as he held his optics and was honest. “I did what I knew was just in regards to your imprisonment. It just so happened to also be what I wanted. No need to thank me Megatron. It’s now up to both of us to make the most of the time we’ve both worked so hard for .”

Megatron’s optics glowed a brighter red as he looked at Minimus in awe and murmured his name. It made his spark pound and he was already starting to move off his recharge slab before he knew what he was doing. His legs carried his down around the two middle slabs to the foot of Megatron’s.

He watched him intensely. Minimus’s vents hissed shut in nervousness.

Now that he was so close to him he felt his nerve slipping. He hesitated for a moment before approaching his head where he was propped up on one elbow. He set out his hand, palm up next to Megatron’s that was in front of him. He watched the bigger black hand tentatively reach out and brush his fingers before taking his. It was warm and pleasantly firm. 

Minimus supposed voicing his honest desires had served him well so far tonight, so he kept listening to them. He pulled their joined hands towards him and rested his cheek against them offlining his optics. He basked in the warmth and closeness. He could hear both their vents hissing lightly, his hand squeezed his tighter and then he felt fingers, a thumb, ghost over his other cheek. He onlined his optics so quickly they sizzled. 

Megatron’s face was very close. His other hand stopped and slipped down his black facial insignia to cup his chin as he murmured. “Is there something you want Minimus?”

_ Everything. _

_ Absolutely everything. _ It was the right answer. It was the wrong answer. It was the answer he was waiting to give. It wasn’t quite the right time, even he knew that. 

So a smaller answer, just as true, slipped past his lips. He swallowed hard, voice high and wavering. “A kiss goodnight?”

Megatron’s smile was wide and immensely self-satisfied. He nodded and Minimus felt his hand slip down around to the back of his neck as he leaned in. The first press of his lips was so light he would have thought he had imagined it if his face wasn’t so wonderfully close. He reached up his free hand and pulled Megatron closer by the border of his chest plating. Minimus didn’t use all his strength, but it was a firm tug, and he watched delightedly as Megatron’s optics widened right in front of his own. 

He felt him ex-vent a chuckle, barely touching his lips before Minimus closed the gap and deepened the kiss. He felt Megatron’s hands jerk against his own at the back of his neck before he relaxed into it and they were finally properly kissing. 

Minimus knew if he thought too hard about what this meant he would panic so he put every effort into not thinking about anything but how incredible this felt. He moved his lips against his a little and was thrilled when Megatron mirrored the movement. Minimus darted his tongue out between their lips and to his joy Megatron opened his mouth to let him lick into his and they both shivered. He pushed in closer and revelled in the feel of his mouth, their tongues brushed against each other. All of it, the proximity, the heat from their fans clicking on, the wet feeling of their mouths pushing together, it was so much. Not enough and too much. His head was swimming but he wanted more. Wanted whatever Megatron would let him have. An electric thrill ran through his spark at that thought. He suspected he only had to ask and he would be given more than he had ever dared hope for. 

When had _ that _ happened?

It was Megatron who broke the kiss and removed his hand from the back of Minimus’s neck. He didn’t pull his other hand away from where he was holding it though. 

Minimus’s optics were dimmed as he licked his lips, Megatron watched the motion, fascinated. Then reluctantly dragged his optics back up to Minimus’s as he spoke. “Just a kiss goodnight then?”

Minimus wanted to climb into the berth with him. A surprisingly loud part of him wanted to climb into his berth and then on top of him. But he knew neither one of them would recharge well, not after that kiss. And that other part, well...was he ready for that? He suspected they should have a proper discussion about what their relationship was before he tried that. Not that he thought Megatron would say no at the moment, that was the problem.

So instead he disengaged their hands and took a slight step back. 

His spark was whirring loudly inside his chest and he knew his face was glowing energon pink under his green coloring. He tried to regain some of his composure, he needed to say something. Give an answer. He nodded succinctly. “That was a...more than satisfactory kiss. Goodnight Megatron.”

Primus, he’d made it sound like he had passed an operations inspection! Megatron’s smile was smug, he didn’t seem to mind Minimus’s relatively unromantic response as he spoke and rolled over onto his side to face away from him. “Goodnight Minimus.”

Maybe he knew his response _ was _ romantic for Minimus. That he approved.

He suspected that he wasn’t going to recharge well. Now that he was no longer swept up in the moment he was beginning to overthink what had happened. Going over all the ways he hadn’t done it right. And all the ways he had. He had kissed Megatron and Megatron had kissed him back! 

That was...definitely something of note. 

It was incredible. He hadn’t even declared his intentions yet and they had kissed! He was still resolved to comm his friends for advice, but that other idea. The one about asking Megatron how he wanted to be flirted with. That sounded like a more viable plan now. 

His spark was burning brightly as he put a hand over it. He turned over on his side in his own berth, facing the wall away from Megatron and touched his other fingers to his lips. Yes, he definitely wanted to do that again. Among other things. 

His processor spun at the thought of all those other things. He had been trying to lock down those particular idea trees in the forbidden subsection of his emotional processing for years, but they sprang to glowing life after that kiss. Dreams of Megatron’s hands on him, his mouth. Stars, his spike in him. 

Minimus slammed his firewall protocols down around that thought and shoved it several subheadings deep. He hadn’t self serviced in all the time he had been living alone on New Luna One and now he was deeply regretting it. Those long forgotten, repressed feelings were tremendously strong. Almost as strong as Megatron’s hands. He bit his lip to stop from groaning. 

He needed to think of something else, anything else. 

So he thought of the _ Lost Light _ . It had become a habit of his to go through the crew and equipment checklist when he was anxious or distressed. Minimus started mentally walking through the halls of the ship. Naming and accounting for everyone on board as he proceeded past the habsuites, the science labs, the medbay. He knew that the _ Lost Light _ no longer physically existed, her crew scattered to depths of space, but it had become a sort of anchor in his mind. One he could rely on, even if it was bitter sweet. 

Somehow Minimus fell into recharge and when he awoke Megatron wasn’t in the living quarters. Which was both a relief and a disappointment. He got up and poured his morning cube of energon. His fingers tapped restlessly against the glass. He hoped that today might be a landmark day. Or at least a good day. Not that yesterday hadn’t been good. It had been phenomenal. 

Minimus was now quite sure they had been on a date and he had kissed him goodnight. Such a small thing, relatively speaking, yet it felt better than any battle victory or regulation approval process he had ever fought for. 

He cleared his intake and then swallowed the rest of the energon before getting up to go into the lab. Megatron looked up and nodded at him with a quirk of his lips before going back to whatever medical training simulation he had been viewing. 

Minimus could, on occasion, take a hint. He went to his own workstation and tried to find something significantly distracting to do. 

The architecture program they had allowed him to download was something he often got lost in. The angular lines and perfect symmetry was enthralling. He didn’t delude himself into thinking he was particularly skilled in the design element, no one had ever called Minimus creative, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. 

He tapped his stylus on the window to expand the template and zoomed in on the designs on the screen. Minimus started to work on how to lay down the energon lines and power junctions in the walls. A thin electric pink grid popped up over the drawing and he turned on his internal music database. It helped him to fall into the headspace he needed to work quickly and efficiently. He had heard Verity call it “flow” once when she talked about her own coding practices. The drums of the Earth music thumped through his chest and head, tingling pleasantly as he fell into the model before him. 

He didn’t realize he was tapping his foot and humming along until Megatron startled him out of his deep concentration. “What are you listening to? You can put it on the external speakers if you want, I’d be interested in hearing it. While you have a lovely voice I feel like I might be missing out on the whole experience.”

Minimus flushed and pursed his lips, the compliment making his spark and hands shake a little. “It’s Earth music, and you are correct, my humming doesn’t describe the vocals and accompaniment accurately.”

Before he could be too self conscious about it he switched his database to stream to the speakers and started the song he was just listening to over again. Cybertronian music lacked lyrics for the most part, there were subvocals and bits of data package notes meant to express and give emotion to the listener. Earth music combined words and instrumentals to create something greater than the sum of its parts. It made him feel, simply by the quality of the vocals, the words they were singing, and the beat and pull of the instrumentals. He loved it. 

Not every Cybertronian did and he was slightly worried that Megatron wouldn’t like his taste in music. He tried to concentrate on his schematics again but found himself watching Megatron’s reaction to the song out of the corner of his optics.

_ Hydrogen in our veins, it cannot hold itself, my blood is pouring _

_ And the pressure in our bodies that echoes up above it is exploding _

_ And our particles that burn it all because they are for each other _

_ And although we stick together it seems that we are stranging one another _

His brow was furrowed until the song reached the chorus.

_ An atom to atom oh can you feel it on me love _

_ A pattern to pattern oh can you see it on me love _

_ Atom to atom oh what's the matter with me love _

_ Strangeness and charm _

His optics lit up in realization. “It’s poetry! Poetry to drumming music how...interesting. Human voices are always so nasal but this is startling powerful. Is there more by this vocalist?”

Minimus didn’t hide his small laugh as he smiled. “Not all human singers have high voices you know. I can send you the rest of her discography if you like.” Minimus turned the music down to a background melody so they could speak.

Megatron nodded still deep in thought. “I tried for a long time not to see it, to ignore it. It appears organics have some things to offer us mechanicals after all. It’s strange to think that they don’t have millions of years worth of music though. I suppose we don’t either thanks to the war. My war.”

Minimus’s spark ached, he started to speak when the music cut off abruptly. It was replaced with the beep for an incoming video call. Minimus saw that it was from Anode and switched it on to the screen across from the living quarters on the lab’s far wall.

Her light gray and brown face came into view along with several dozen others. “Hey Minimus! The kids in the last batch you helped take care of here are graduating today and picking their assignments. They wanted to say thank you!”

The wide-eyed Lunarian youngsparks waved at him and several called out, “Thank you Minimus!”

Minimus beamed at all of them. “I trust you all studied hard for your placement recommendation exams?”

A tall, thin red and white mech stepped forward, First Responder. “We sure did! Both Cleanstrike and I got into our first choice medical programs. We’re going to Earth!”

Cleanstrike, a red and black mech, waved from behind him. A blue and green mech spoke up next. “I didn’t get into my first choice program but that’s okay because I’m in the same construction program as Rivet! I can’t wait to see her again.”

Minimus smiled, Rivet had been one of his favorites from the previous batch of sparklings. She was a natural leader. Extremely calm and self possessed for someone so young. Also she loved categorical organization. Minimus was smitten with her almost immediately. The blue and green mech was Ringer, he remembered him being one of the biggest sparklings as he was now a head and shoulders above his agemates. He had followed Rivet around the center loyally before she had left for her own assignment. 

He nodded, addressing Ringer. “I’m sure Rivet will be pleased with your assignment as well, but as you know you can switch careers or locations at any time. All of you, if you find yourself unhappy in your new vocations don’t be afraid to speak up. Or if you’d prefer we can intercede on your behalf in the future. Please remember all of us when you find you need some guidance or a friend. Myself included. I wish all of you the best of luck and happiness.”

Everyone called out the same wish for his happiness to Minimus before Anode and Lug’s faces took up the whole screen. Anode spoke first. “Awww Mims you big softie that was wonderful. We all miss you of course, but we know you’re where you need to be. Hey Megatron! Hope everything is going well for you too.”

Minimus jumped as he heard Megatron respond to Anode, he had been so swept up in seeing all the newsparks again that he had forgotten he was also sitting there in the lab. “Hello Anode, Lug, everything here is going well. I am quite pleased with the progress Minimus and I have made. I hope we will continue to make similar breakthroughs in the future.”

Anode’s brow ridges shot up at the way he said that and Lug cut her off before she could say something that was Rodimus levels of inappropriate in front of everyone. “That’s great to hear! It’s good news to be sure, but Anode and I have to go, we’ve got to finish celebrating!”

She started to shove Anode off screen, who was cackling now, as Minimus and Megatron both said goodbye. The feed cut off abruptly and Megatron hummed. “I didn’t realize they were conjunx. I really should have paid more attention to the relationships bots formed on the _ Lost Light _.”

Minimus shook his head and chuckled ruefully. “Oh they never let anyone forget it at the forging facility. They were constantly complimenting each other, holding hands, flirting. I even caught them kissing in the medbay once. Extremely loving and thoroughly unprofessional. I can’t say it has ever affected the quality of their work though, so I’ve mostly let it slide. Not that I had any authority there to hand out PDA citations like I used to on the_ Lost Light. _” 

Megatron’s optics were glowing appreciatively when he looked over at him. “I didn’t want to say anything earlier in case you took offense, but you’re different Minimus. At first I suspected it was the result of living outside the Ultra Magnus armor for the first time in several million years. Now I’m coming to think it was because you’ve made some new friends. They’ve been good for you.”

Minimus stroked his black facial insignia thoughtfully, brow furrowed. “It’s odd to say but I think it was the newsparks who have changed me the most. It’s one thing to occupy a command position, to be a leader. It’s an entirely different thing to be a mentor, a guardian; something like a parent. For me at least.”

Megatron rose and walked over to where he was sitting down. Minimus stared up at him with wide optics as he offered him his hand. He took it and stood up to look into Megatron’s gentle, strangely sad face. “I’m happy for you Minimus. And also deeply sorry that joining your path with mine has taken you away from that newfound happiness.”

Minimus wanted to deny it right away. To tell him he was perfectly happy right here! That he hadn’t been wholly happy while on New Luna One without him. 

He remembered that honesty and expressing himself out loud seemed to work the best so he didn’t lie. “I was happy to be working with Anode, Lug, the other medics, and the newsparks, but I wasn’t content. I was using my work there; all the reports, datasheets, means graphs, and even babysitting, to distract myself from missing everyone. The _ Lost Light _ became our home and our family. I can’t replace it but I know that bringing you here, out of stasis in eternal imprisonment, was a good place to start.”

He squeezed Megatron’s hands and watched the vents in his sides open and hiss heavily. His tone was teasing and light, if a bit strained. “Is that a convoluted way of saying you’re happy to be here with me, even though it means missing everyone else?”

Minimus didn’t even bother to think before he responded. “Yes, of course! I know that I can see everyone else in time as they can come visit us here. But with you still locked away I would have never seen you again, none of us would have. The thought was unbearable.” 

Megatron’s vents hitched as he leaned down and brought Minimus’s knuckles to his lips. “Your face was the last thing I saw before they turned on the generator. I dreamed of you often.”

Minimus fans clicked on audibly as he watched Megatron mouth along the knuckles of both his hands. His voice was barely audible when he spoke. “I dreamed of you before then, of course, but I didn’t dare hope. I knew it wouldn’t be fair to you. To be grieving a friend, perhaps a lover, while you were still there in their arms because you knew what fate awaited them at the end of their choices. So I never acted on it, even though I suspected the feeling was somewhat mutual. My situation has once again changed drastically and I find myself wondering if perhaps we couldn’t try this time? I want to.”

Minimus gasped. Did he just ask to court him!?

Did he just state he had wanted to ask for years, even before on the _ Lost Light _? Why had Minimus been trying to avoid admitting his feelings again!?

He pulled his hands forward from where he was holding them below his lips to his shoulder and around the back of his neck. Minimus smiled up at him with dimmed red optics. “I would like to as well. I want to court you Megatron. We could start right now if you find the idea apea-”

He didn’t get to finish as Megatron leaned down and kissed him.

Minimus supposed that was a yes, an enthusiastic one too. He wasn’t about to complain. The kiss started out just as tender as the one from the previous night, lips pressing to lips. Minimus leaned back, sitting on top of the computer desk behind him and pulled Megatron in closer in between his legs, his arms winding around his neck. 

The kiss deepened and he ex-vented deeply as Megatron’s hands slipped down from his shoulders, caressing his back, his chest, his sides. Till eventually they came to rest on his hips, he stroked them lightly with his thumbs. His spark was singing in his chest as he slid his hands into the small gaps between Megatron’s neck and shoulder plates, fingers finding taught cables to stroke. Megatron’s vents stuttered and he broke the kiss, but didn’t pull away, his face still close. Minimus was studying it in a bit of a daze, he was so very close. 

Megatron had a quirk of a smile but it looked slightly pained. “Minimus?”

He hummed in response, his fingers were still stroking into that small gap in his armor, gently pulling on cables as Megatron’s optics twitched. 

Minimus was watching his lips with reverence as he spoke. “As...enjoyable as this is, I can’t help but feel it would be a mistake if we didn’t discuss certain expectations and boundaries before, hmm, moving this to the berth.”

Minimus mouthed “oh!” his optics wide as he withdrew his fingers hastily, clasping them over his spark. Megatron noticeably relaxed, his vents hissing as he stood up and looked towards the door to the living quarters. “I’m not saying no by the way. That did feel...incredible. It has been a long time since anyone has touched me there, let alone with clever fingers like yours. Later though, you’re more than welcome to do that again. If I may be so bold, after we have discussed things, you can touch me like that anywhere you want.” 

He looked back at Minimus fondly as he gestured to the living quarters’ door. “But first things first, parameters. Shall we?”

Minimus knew his cooling fans were on, his face bright with an energon blush, and his spark half up his intake so he just nodded and got up to follow him. Oh Primus he wanted him to touch him, wherever he could get his fingers. That was...distracting. He needed to focus on the talk at hand. This was terribly important. He shoved the desire to fondle Megatron down into the sub-folder entitled: “ Erotic Mutual Touching.’” 

Megatron sat down heavily at the table and Minimus sat down in the chair across from him. His posture perfectly straight, hands clasped hard in his lap so they wouldn’t fidget. 

Negotiating. They were negotiating the boundaries and expectations of their future liaisons. 

That wasn’t something he was unfamiliar with, they were going to be discussing topics he had very little experience with. Very intimate topics. Primus, he had already started to panic. 

No, he just had to remind himself to be honest. If he was then this would work out..most likely. No matter how much his face hurt from how hard he was blushing he prepared himself to speak. 

He did jump a little when Megatron cleared his intake and began talking in a soothing tone. “I had been, up until last night, operating under a certain set of assumptions about what was between you and I. Which now seem to be, hm, incorrect. I feel it’s in both our best interests to do away with thinking we know what the other is feeling and instead say it plainly. Easier said than done, I know, but I’m willing to go first.”

Minimus’s optics snapped up to meet his and he immediately opened his mouth to apologize to him. “I didn’t want to force what, I assumed, was a one sided infatuation on you. Not while we were on the _ Lost Light _ and uncertain of our future and not now when the future finally seemed more hopeful and open for you. I didn’t want to burden you with my feelings if it would make you feel trapped with me. I sincerely apologize if my reluctance to engage with your overtures convinced you in any way that I didn’t want you, that I wouldn’t, that I didn’t, that is to say-”

He knew he had to say it now, that it was important that they were both on the same page. He paused for a beat, then continued in a rush. “I didn’t want you to think that I didn’t love you. That I don’t still love you, because I do, so much so my spark aches thinking of it, thinking of you. Primus, my processor has been working furiously trying not to think about all of it, what it could mean, what you could mean to me and failing miserably. I’ve been acting like a love-sick newspark this entire time, believe me I know, as I’ve just herushed out of him regardless. He watched earnestly as Megatron’s optics went wide with disbelief, then wonder, then what Minimus hoped was love. It looked like it was that. He prayed to whomever was listening it was that. 

Megatron’s voice was hushed when he spoke. “I see. If I seem a bit dazed it’s because I wasn’t expecting that to be your answer and I suddenly find myself at a loss. I was prepared for rejection, it seemed like the only kind of answer you could give me. I’m not exactly what someone like yourself, a bot with any sense of uprightness and good judgement, would ever want in a lover. Let alone a conjunx. Believe me, Orion made that quite clear once upon a time. I had thought that your kiss last night might have been an attempt to smooth things over with me after you finally noticed my interest. That it was appeasement. Again I was ready to answer that.”

Megatron huffed a small laugh as he spoke. “I suppose I should state it just as emphatically. I am in love with you too Minimus Ambus. When I was trapped in the Functionist universe I often thought of what you would do, what you would say, when I was faced with various decisions of a...morally gray nature. Every choice I made I tried to be better, to do better. Not just for myself, or what you would think of me, but simply because it was the right thing to do. When I returned I was ready to face my judgement. I knew the short, fraught love I could offer you then wouldn’t be what you deserved from me so I didn’t tell you how I felt. I didn’t get to give you a proper goodbye. For that I am so sorry.”

Minimus clutched his hands over his spark to keep from reaching out towards him as Megaton continued.

“I dreamt about that moment, about you, while locked inside myself in the Mobius Generator. It replayed my choices, each and every one, over and over. All the decisions, every action, analyzed in cold excruciating detail. It picked them and me apart. All of my missteps, my regrets, laid out for me meticulously. And do you know what I realized analyzing them all together instead of separately? That where I strayed, where I went wrong, was that I chose fear over love. That’s where ‘Peace Through Tyranny’ came from. From the fear of losing control, losing my agency, my power. When you don’t trust anyone but yourself how can you trust them to make the right choices? The only safe way was for me to make all their choices for them. That’s how we got the Functionists and that is what the Decepticons became. If I had chosen love and compassion, an imperfect solutions though they may be, things would’ve been different. If I had engaged in trust instead of tyranny, we might have actually been able to live. Soundwave is proof enough of that concept.”

He stopped and seemed to gather his thoughts once more before going on. 

“So here we are. I feel as if this might really be a new beginning for me, as I had once hoped the _ Lost Light _ would be. Since we’re being honest, I’ll admit I am worried that the better you get to know me the less you will find there is in me to love. But I want to try, I feel like I would regret it immensely if we didn’t. Because I love you and want to build something together here with you. Maybe more than one something.”

Megatron smiled ruefully at the last bit. Minimus wasn’t sure exactly what he meant by that but his spark was soaring, that heady warm feeling from before was back. His hand flew to his mouth and he started to tap his lips as he mumbled. “Good. Yes that’s...let’s court and all the rest of it as well.”

Megatron leaned forward and his smile was slightly darker. “Oh no Minimus you’re not getting out of talking about interfacing that easily. We are going to go through and establish more boundaries, maybe not right this moment but continuously. I don’t want to hurt you. Believe me that is the last thing I want, so we’re going to discuss everything before we do it. Together.”

Minimus ex-vented raggedly. Ah.

Alright, the first part of this conversation had been emotionally loaded but had gone amazingly well. This was the part that he was going to have trouble with, he knew that, but Megatron was right. If they didn’t make their needs and...desires clear, one or both of them was bound to get hurt. 

He was right, he knew he was right. He felt like he could melt into the floor was all. It was finally time to take the plunge.

Minimus cleared his intake twice, his voice higher than he would have liked as he spoke. “I would like to do all of it, everything. To be lovers, sparkbonded, conjunx’d, married; all the ways I can bind myself to you I want to. I wish to spend the rest of my life with you. I find myself wanting to kiss you, practically all the time, even when you’re being contrary. Especially then, unfortunately. I want to, to, run my hands all over and under your plating, feel it warm and shudder underneath my fingers, put my mouth to it. There is...a subsection in my mind I have walled off until now filled with all the things I want to do to and with you, it is quite excruciatingly detailed. There are currently 27 sub-folders with ten descending folders in each. Suffice to say interfacing covers most of it. Sparkmerging, hardline data transfer, s-spike and valve, any way there is to join with you I want to do it. To feel it all, to feel all of you. Is that...sufficient enough information to move forward? If you need more I can start opening files.”

Megatron’s engine rumbled loudly, his optics were a molten red. When he spoke his voice was low and raspy. “You don’t have to do that... at the moment. I believe I understand you and I agree. Let’s do all of it, _ everything _. I’ll admit that I want to be with you, in all the ways we can achieve it, great and insignificant. I’m eager for anything you are willing and gracious enough to give me. I am in awe that we want the same things from each other at all. And I am thoroughly looking forward to you eventually showing me what’s in each and every one of those folders.”

Minimus nodded slowly, heavily. He felt his red optics burn just as brightly as Megatron’s. His voice was quiet and low. “Well. Since we are both in agreement on the terms of our current and future relationship parameters, could we perhaps, ah, kiss again?”

Megatron smiled and it was only slightly wicked as he motioned for Minimus to come over to his side of the table. He thought about climbing right across it, but managed to fight that rather immature urge and instead stood quickly and moved over to him. As soon as he reached up for him Megatron moved down towards him and their lips met again. 

This time it wasn’t tender. 

There was a heat and deeper urgency to it that made his plating ruffle and burn. He wanted his hands on him. Minimus knew he should ask but that would mean stopping the kiss and it felt...he didn’t want to ever stop feeling like this. Instead he reached out and grabbed Megatron’s hands that were gripping the armrests of his chair tightly and pulled them towards him. 

He got Minimus’s meaning and immediately started to touch him, first across his shoulders and chest, sweeping large fingers in between delicate plates, kneading the cabling in his back. 

Finally his hands dipped down to his hips and the outsides of his thighs. He gasped at the feel of those big black hands rubbing circles into the cabling between his hips, then down lower to cup his aft. Megatron licked greedily into his now open mouth. 

Minimus wanted to climb into his lap, to be surrounded on all sides by him, completely enveloped. It occurred to him then that there was no reason why he couldn’t do that, especially if he asked. His own hands were locked around the back of Megatron’s neck and he let go to move them down to his chest plating. He carefully pushed him back, not breaking the kiss, into the chair. Megatron’s hands gripped his aft harder and Minimus moved in closer in between his legs. He moved his knee up and Megatron caught on to what he was doing and helped lift him effortlessly into his lap.

It was exactly like how he imagined it would be. He was surrounded by the hot gray metal of his arms, pressed chest to chest, kneeling on top of his thighs. The contact felt amazing and he groaned into their joined mouths. Megatron’s engined purred against his chest and his own revved in response. He didn’t try to stop the cant of his hips as he ground down against Megatron’s below him. It felt too good. 

Megatron froze and Minimus responded in kind, both of them locking up. Minimus broke the kiss first and looked at him with worried optics.

Megatron’s face was serious but there was a nervous edge in his voice when he spoke. “I want to continue in that direction, believe me, but perhaps we should pause for the moment? The last thing I want to do is hurt you in any way. The medical texts I’ve been consulting have mentioned _thorough_ _preparation_ being vital between bots with a...marked size difference. Though I guess that can be its own kind of fun. Me taking my time fingering your valve, making sure there’s nothing but pleasure between us. Or if you’d prefer I can mass shift myself..smaller”

Minimus didn’t know how it was possible but his cooling fans blasted louder at that, his whole frame burning even hotter. He meant that there was...that he was. Oh. _ Oh Primus _. 

He looked away from Megatron’s searching stare, his voice strained. “Ah. I see. Well. We’re fortunate as there are many other ways of interfacing that aren’t...that you don’t have to... s-spike me...hm, but I do definitely want to do that. I know it might sound silly but I was hoping maybe we could make an evening of it? When we uh, um finally decide to do that. Primus Megatron, I honestly don’t care how we do it. My only desire is that you’re the one I’m interfacing with because I love you.”

Megatron ex-vented hard and pressed his forehead to Minimus’s as he whispered. “Oh Minimus. All this trust you’ve put in me, I don’t think I deserve it. Or you for that matter, yet here we are. I love you too and that sounds wonderful. Let’s make plans to go on another date then.”

He was desperately charged up but that happy glowing feeling overwhelmed him with affection for the bigger bot again. He pulled back and placed a quick kiss on Megatron’s forehead before beaming up at him. “Good. I’m glad we’re in agreement.” He bit his lip then continued. “But perhaps we could? You see I am quite, oh, flustered...Megatron the things you do to me, I would be mortified, except they feel so good. Do you think we could continue this in some other fashion?”

Megatron’s optics glowed darkly as he ran his hands over down Minimus’s sides to his aft and lifted him carefully onto the table in front of him. He then slid to his knees heavily, the loud clank startled him. 

Megatron placed both hands on Minimus’s knees as he looked up at him and spoke in a low, husky tone. “I can think of a couple other ways we could proceed. I’m open to suggestions though. To be frank, I’d prefer it if you told me exactly what you want me to do to you. For instance: where should I put my mouth right now?”

He leaned forward and moved his hand away to kiss the inside of Minimus’s knee. He visibly shook under his huge hands. Could he say it? He wanted his mouth on his valve, in his valve. Stars, he wanted that mouth on his spike as well. Oh but could he say it aloud? He knew that if he could, he’d get exactly what he was asking for. And it would be better than anything he pointedly hadn’t been imagining by storing it in various lewd sub-folders. That was for certain. 

Minimus ex-vented raggedly, his voice laced with static whispers. “I want your mouth on me. Please.”

Megatron shuddered as well as he pushed Minimus’s legs wide enough to get his head in between them. He placed a kiss to the inside of his thigh, then higher up he licked into the transformation seam between his leg and array panel. Minimus gasped as two hands snaked around the back of his hips to push him in closer to Megatron’s face. 

He wasn’t about to stop now, so putting aside any inhibitions, he brought both his knees up over Megatron’s shoulders between his tank treads and his neck. He felt Megatron’s chuckle vibrate up his legs as well as heard it and he looked down. Those brilliant red optics were watching his face avidly as his mouth kissed and licked into all the small lines and cables around his panel. 

When their optics locked Megatron stopped his mouth and smiled truly deviously. It would have worried him if he had seen it at any other time, but in this case it was like a bolt of lightning straight through his array. Minimus was having trouble engaging his processor let alone his vocalizer. 

Megatron leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to the transformation seam of his interfacing panel and pulled back as he said. “Tell me exactly where you want my mouth.”

Oh. _ Oh no. _

He was teasing him! Oh, he was _ teasing _ him. 

Minimus had been right, this was better than anything he had imagined and they hadn’t even really begun yet. He took several shuddering vents and tried to speak. On the fourth attempt it came out strained and hoarse. “I want...would you please? Ah, if you would like to, please I need...you-to-put-your-mouth-on-my-valve.”

That dark smile became absolutely salacious as Megatron rumbled. “I would_ love _to.”

Minimus wasn’t sure if it had even been a conscious command, he transformed away his interfacing array panel to reveal his already wet valve and straining spike. Megatron’s optics flicked back and forth between the puffy green protomesh folds in front of him and Minimus’s flushed face, like he couldn’t decide which he would rather watch. Minimus on the other hand wasn’t sure if he could watch him at all.

It was, so much, too much. Maybe not ever enough. 

Oh. His mouth was...it was just as talented at this as it was at oration. In a word: tremendously. 

Minimus reacted in a full body shudder as his hands flew to Megatron’s head at his first slow lick from the edge of his valve all the way up to the tip of his spike. He made a noise in his vocalizer that he was quite sure he’d never made before and Megatron hummed in appreciation. That made him gasp. It felt wonderful, he could already feel his overload building and he’d barely touched him. 

This was going to be over far too quickly for both their liking, he could tell, and yet there was nothing he could think of to stop it. All he was thinking of was how it was _ Megatron _ licking him like this, pushing him open and apart with his nose, lips, and tongue. That clever silver tongue, languidly taking its time rolling around his anterior node and then back down to the opening of his valve. If he pressed down any harder on his head he was going to dent it. 

When he sucked his node into his mouth for the first time he did. The gray metal made an audible crunch under his hands and Megatron moaned low and sucked him harder. 

Minimus let go and tried to smooth his hands over the five matching dents on either side of his head. He opened his mouth to apologize but Megatron growled against him and he stopped. Those red optics were unfocused as they looked up at him from between his legs and it made his vents hitch to realize he was having just as much of an effect on him as he was on Minimus. 

He sucked him lightly once before speaking. “Don’t apologize, don’t worry, and don’t stop. I love it. I want to hear you, I want to _ feel _ you come apart for me.”

He still felt a little bad about the dents but he didn’t think about them much as Megatron took his spike into his mouth. Thick, blunt black fingers found his valve and started palming and playing with the folds of it. Minimus didn’t think about much else besides how good that felt after that. 

He alternated between sucking his spike and the folds and node of his valve, like it was the most enjoyable thing he’d ever done. He put that brilliant strategic processor to the singular task of making Minimus wail. It turned out he was very good at that. He would have been more embarrassed and self conscious if not for the fact that he could barely think through how pleasurable it felt. 

Minimus lasted longer than he originally thought he would, but he still overloaded too soon with a shout of Megatron’s name. 

The thing was he didn’t stop devouring him. 

Minimus had very little experience with this sort of thing but from what he had read, interfacing tended to stop after one or both partners climaxed. Not that he wanted him to stop. Stars, everything felt ever more intense now, his whole frame was on fire and tingling with charge. 

Megatron didn’t seem to want to stop either, as he greedily licked and swallowed down Minimus’s transfluid and kept worshiping his valve with his lips. All the while Megatron was watching him, Minimus couldn’t do it back for long because he felt his charge creep higher when he did. But he wanted to. Megatron looked wrecked, optics dimmed, his expression absolutely gone as he kissed and sucked reverently at his array. It was the hottest thing he had ever seen in his entire functioning. 

His second overload took him and Megatron groaned around his spike as he sucked his transfluid down eagerly. Minimus’s engine whined high and strained like his voice as he called out garbled static. His processor was scrambled, he was getting all sorts of alarming heat error messages. It felt incredible. 

He had a little clarity left though, as he tugged on Megatron’s head enough so that he stopped sucking his node while Minimus gasped down at him. “Megatron! You...you, what, I feel, you have, I have. Oh, what about you, yours?” Ah maybe less clarity than he would have liked at the moment.

Megatron grinned at that, his optics getting brighter as he leaned back on his knees farther away from him showing off where he had his hand fisting his own spike quickly. 

Minimus stared. How could he not? 

He was amazing, all of him was, as it turned out. Yes...yes he could see now why he had wanted to take, um, spiking him slowly. Oh, but now he was thinking of it. How incredible it would feel to be split open by the gloriously large, red biolight lined, gray spike. If he wasn’t already out of his processor now he would be from getting spiked with _ that _. Damn.

Megatron’s voice was even deeper than usual as he leaned back in towards his valve. “As you can see...I am fine. By the Unmaker Minimus, I could overload from just putting my tongue inside you. Maybe I’ll try that another time. Just hearing you is perfection. Don’t worry about whether or not this is getting me off, it absolutely is.“

Minimus whooshed out a quiet ‘oh’ as he started to mouth at his valve again. Well. 

He lost all will to argue, or do much of anything else except buck helplessly against his mouth, and push down hard against his head between his legs. After the fourth overload he was leaking optical fluid and mumbling Primus knows what. Begging, he was begging for him. For anything, everything, oh he needed... 

Megatron obliged him in what he had been babbling for incoherently and slid two fingers into him, curling them up towards where he was sucking his anterior node lightly. Minimus overloaded so hard his systems whited out. He convulsed in crackling pleasure, Megatron around him, inside him. 

And then he was flat on his back as he rebooted his systems, staring up at the lights in the ceiling in a daze as Megatron moved him carefully into his arms off the table.

Minimus rolled his head towards him floppily and Megatron smiled smugly. “Welcome back dearspark. I take it that was good for you?”

Ooh. Yes. It had been. He knew he should be annoyed at how he was smirking at he him but he couldn’t muster the energy to be anything but deliriously sated at the moment. 

Instead he was honest. “Yes, that was...yes. It was very, ah. You are, by the stars Megatron, you’re entirely too good at all of that.”

Megatron laughed as he pulled him into his arms tighter and walked, carrying him over to the washracks. He turned on the spray of solvent and started to clean them both up, it was then Minimus noticed the rather conspicuous trail of semi-pink transfluid on Megatron’s own abdominal plating. He had missed his overload. 

Minimus couldn’t help but be disappointed, that was something he had been looking forward to seeing. Had imagined seeing, for far too embarrassingly long. 

He let him move him, his body still fairly limp from his system’s reboot, to clean him up. His hands were gentle and he noticed they lingered over certain parts of his body more than they needed to. Megatron wanted to touch him too. 

That was something he hadn’t really gotten to do while he was...doing all of that to him. So Minimus got up slowly and grabbed a microfiber cloth from the rack by the door. He then started cleaning Megatron’s plating, going over every bit of it diligently, feeling in between cables and plating gaps, wrapping an arm around his neck and pulling him down so he could reach his back and shoulders. 

Megatron was loose and free with him and let him get his hands all over him to Minimus’s delight. This was different but no less exciting for him than what they had just done. It made his spark spin in his chest rapidly. He could tell Megatron was enjoying this type of intimacy as well. His pleased rumble shook up through Minimus’s hands as he ran the solvent soaked cloth over his chest plates. 

Megatron backed up to the tiled wall and looked down at him with interest as Minimus leaned down to clean his lower body. He took his time cleaning the divots between his hip joints and thighs, and lingered even longer on his array paneling. 

Minimus was curious, could he make Megatron shake and yell like he had just made him? He wanted to. When he looked up to see Megatron eagerly watching him he suspected he wanted him to too. 

Still he had to ask. Consent was mandatory in all things. He smiled innocently up at him as he spoke. “Would it be acceptable if I returned the treatment you have so graciously given me?”

Megatron’s engine revved encouragingly and he nodded while licking his lips. Minimus watched the motion of it avidly as Megatron spoke. “You don’t have to, obviously I want you to, but it’s your choice. Do whatever you like to me Minimus. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it, whatever it is we do together.” 

He wanted to tell him he loved him again, but then he was distracted by the sound of Megatron’s paneling transforming back to reveal just his valve. It was black and gunmetal gray, the pulsing red biolight of his anterior node already bright. It was beautiful, just like the rest of him, dark gray and radiating power. 

He had to tell him. “You’re so gorgeous, every part of you is finely crafted and gorgeous. Full of concentrated power, speaking of a dangerous kind of beauty. I want you so badly, all the time. _ Megatron. _” 

The larger bot moved and shoved a hand into his mouth to stop from moaning. Megatron actually shook before him. Now it was his turn to lick his lips as he leaned in and placed a kiss to the gray and black folds, light and slow like he was moving against his lips. 

Just the smell of him, so warm and close, was intoxicating and Minimus pushed his face up against him so he could get deeper. Megatron hissed around his fist and dug his other fingers into the tiled wall behind him so hard it cracked and crumbled under them, pieces of it skittering down the wall. 

He nuzzled his nose and lips against his valve. When his facial insignia bumped against his node Megatron jerked his fist out of his mouth and shouted his name. That...that was perfect. He had to do that again, if he angled his face correctly he could get his tongue into his opening and push up at his node with his facial insignia. 

It put a little bit of crimp in his neck but it was worth it for the noises Megatron was making, he sounded so raw. Almost like he was sobbing. 

Minimus was just trying to do the same things Megatron had done to him but he was a quick learner, studious. He could apply the same level of meticulousness to interfacing as he did to everything else, it seemed. 

So through some experimentation he decided to try a little bit of his teeth as he nibbled on his valve folds. Megatron roared as he overloaded against his mouth, hips bucking up in small jerking circles, as if even now he was still holding back. It was just as a magnificent sight as he imagined it would be. His head was thrown back, mouth wide open in ecstasy, red optics guttering. Minimus made sure to commit the whole picture to his long term memory storage. 

He was excellent at taking notes and it seemed worth remembering Megatron liked a little bit of pain during interface. He also liked to hear him tell him how wonderful he was. Minimus could understand the latter part, his spark flared whenever Megatron praised something about him. It was the other bit he wasn’t sure he would like, but if that was what Megatron enjoyed well...he could oblige. 

As Megatron came down he reached out and moved Minimus’s face to look up at him. “Minimus, that was amazing. You’re amazing. Thank you. There is though, ah. I know I said we’d need to take our time if you wanted me to spike you, but I find myself wanting you to spike me instead. If you’d be at all interested in that.”

Minimus was already charged up again from bringing him to overload. He could definitely manage to pressurize his spike again. He wondered briefly about the logistics before an idea snapped into place in his mind. 

Minimus nodded as he straightened up to stand. Then he moved Megatron’s legs farther apart, getting his arm up under one of his thighs and pushing it up towards his chest. Megatron’s optics blew wide as Minimus took most of his weight and pushed him up hard against the wall of the washracks.

Minimus smiled conspiratorially at him as Megatron curled in towards him. “I’m a load bearer. I can hold you up without too much exertion. Go ahead, let me take you like this.”

Megatron’s optics were impossibly wide as he is engine whined in response. He let out a hissed ‘_ yesssss please’ _ as Minimus dragged his body down the wall and pushed his own hips upwards to meet his. He wasn’t sure that this angle was the best, but if he was going to do this then he was going to do this to the best of his abilities. 

Minimus released his spike and ground it up against his valve as he jerked his hips down once and moved his own hips up. Megatron groaned and squirmed closer to meet him, the cabling in his thigh under his arm flexed erratically. Minimus knew that this was going to take a fair amount of concentration on his part so he hoped desperately that he would have enough to think properly after sinking his spike into Megatron’s welcoming valve. 

He got his other arm up under his aft and thigh and folded both his legs up towards his chest before pushing him hard up higher against the wall. There was a ceramic crunch and some of the tiles flaked off and landed on the floor in a clatter. Megatron was venting in stifled gasps, waves of heated air coming from his chest and back now as his fingers clawed deep furrows in the wall behind him.

Minimus looked up into his optics with determination as he sunk into him slowly. “I’ve got you. I love you. It’s okay to let go.”

The noise Megatron made was strangled and one of the best things Minimus had ever heard as he finally moved his spike into him. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to do this for long but he was going to make him overload first. That was his main objective as he moved his hips up, their plating making a loud thunk as he ground up against him.

It took him a few tentative movements as he adjusted his hips but he finally found a good rhythm. Alternating deep and shallow thrusts that felt incredible inside his soft and wet valve. He could tell it was working on Megatron as well as he kept making low cut off sounds that ended in static and his valve had started to ripple and pulse around him on each of his strokes inside. 

There was something else though, he needed to be doing something else?

That’s right, a little pain! He didn’t want to hurt him really. Perhaps he could just make it sting a little. He ground his hips down hard once he was buried inside him, making sure the edge of his array caught on his anterior node as he sent a consciously aimed jolt of static electricity through it. 

Megatron bucked up and writhed under him in response, mouth wide and spitting pure static. He couldn’t help it, the words just started spilling out. “Megatron...you. Oh by Primus, you feel so good. Wonderful, so strong and wet inside, beautiful. I love doing this. I’ve wanted this, for, for so long, to be with you, so close, almost, now that I’m inside it’s perfect, you’re perfect. Ah-ah I love you!”

Megatron overloaded with a howl and Minimus watched him in awe for a moment, optics surging with charge, his face open and vulnerable and so incredibly gorgeous. He’d meant every word, he loved this bot so much it hurt. 

Minimus wanted to say more but then the rhythmic clenching of his valve pulled him deeper in a rush of slickness that sent Minimus over as well. He saw flashes of white in his HUD but he didn’t entirely crash this time. Megatron moaned as he felt Minimus fill him up deep inside and they both shuddered and trembled against each other, riding out the aftershocks of their combined overloads. Charge tickled and pricked up between where they were joined together. 

He was still gazing adoringly into his face. Megatron noticed him doing so, then he whispered his name and leaned down to kiss him deeply. 

Minimus sunk to the floor while still holding and kissing him, until they were both in a heap on the crushed tile of the washracks. The spray of solvent had shut off automatically a while ago and now they were messy again. Minimus struggled to his feet, reluctantly breaking the kiss to turn on the shower again before sinking back down to the floor with Megatron. They let the spray run over them as they laid there in each other’s arms for a while.

Megatron kissed the top of his head lightly and hummed, sounding deeply content. “I can honestly say that was the best interface I’ve had in several million years.”

Minimus was very pleased to hear that. He’d been worried he wouldn’t measure up to whoever it was in Megatron’s past that had made him so terrifying good at going down on people. Minimus chuckled. “Excellent. That was the best interface I’ve ever had, so I’d say the whole experience was a resounding success. Something that should be repeated on a semi-regular basis.”

Megatron reached up and turned his chin so he was looking at him, his face stern. “On a _ regular _ basis Minimus. I must insist we repeat all of this on a _ very _ regular basis.”

He could argue specificity with him teasingly but instead he smiled and nodded before kissing him again. Ah this feeling; floaty, warm, like being enveloped in his spark. He hadn’t felt like this before he had come here with Megatron. He wanted to feel like this forever. The best part was that that was a very real possibility now. They could be happy like this going forward. 

They did finally manage to clean up, refuel and then wind down a bit. Minimus sat down at the table to read a datapad full of comms from Windblade’s office and Megatron worked on some more training modules in the lab. 

He wanted to recharge with Megatron after all the lovely things they had done that afternoon and into the evening, but there was something important he needed to do now. It was regrettably way past the time when he needed to have a long talk with Rodimus. Minimus quietly left their shared quarters as Megatron was reclining on his berth, reading a datapad diligently. 

There were clouds blocking out the stars as he made his way to the shuttle. The night was cold and crisp. He keyed the code into the shuttle and it opened with a hiss. Minimus shut the door behind him and made his way to the comm relay and video screen in front of the main controls. He set up the coordinates to the nearest relay and sent Rodimus a video call request. It sometimes took him a few minutes to answer even when Minimus wasn’t as far away as he was now so he tried not to worry when he didn’t pick up immediately. 

Minimus did grow concerned when he didn’t pick it up after 15 minutes though. He was about to hang up and try to get through again when the feed clicked to life. Rodimus’s face was close to the camera, it blocked out most of the scene behind him. Minimus could tell he was in some sort of room at the end of a hallway, a light was flickering faintly on the dark wall outside the door. 

Rodimus looked tired. Minimus’s spark ached for him. 

He had known he wasn’t doing well, he now had visual confirmation though. Minimus had sent Ratchet and Drift to check in on him to try and assuage the guilt he felt about not being able to do it himself. But it hadn’t been enough. He wished he could see him in person and give him a hug. Not that he was sure it would make any difference. 

What Rodimus needed was another adventure, another mission, a quest. Minimus wasn’t sure what he was building here with Megatron would turn out to be what he needed but he was going to try. Which was one of the reasons why he had called.

Rodimus frowned when Minimus didn’t speak right away as he looked him up and down through the camera. “Hey Mims. Mind telling me what’s urgent enough to call for several minutes straight but not urgent enough to blurt out as soon as you see me?”

Minimus sighed. He knew it was a mistake as soon as he said but he couldn’t stop himself. “Are you doing well Rodimus?”

Rodimus cringed away from the screen and turned his face away from him with angry glowing blue optics. “Look it’s not...I’m not, some project for you manage and fix up alright. I don’t need you fretting over me. Especially not when you’re several million miles away, exiled on some rock with Megatron, for Primus knows how long. Instead of here...with me.”

Where he was supposed to be, was what remained unsaid, but in this instance he heard it loud and clear. Minimus deflated. How could he explain what he was feeling? Emotions were always terribly complicated and messy. He had to start with care. Honesty. Minimus had to try. Just like with Megatron he had to tell the truth of how he felt and what he wanted. That was the only way. 

He cleared his intake quietly. “Rodimus. I don’t think you need fixing, you’re no more broken than any of the rest of us are. I called because I care deeply about you, you are my best friend and I am worried for you. You’re at your brightest when you’re surrounded by people who love you. I suppose I’m just distressed I can’t be there for you, in person, right now. I was comming to ask if perhaps you’d like to come visit? Both Megatron and I would be elated to see you.”

Rodimus’s optics went huge and round and he seemed speechless for a second before he mumbled. “Body snatchers maybe?” Minimus quirked a brow ridge up at that but Rodimus shook his head a couple times and then looked at him seriously. “Oooookaayyyy. Yeah we can come visit I guess. I’m bringing Drift and Ratchet too, by the way. See...I haven’t been recharging super well and they’ve been staying up with me watching action movies, except Ratchet keeps falling asleep on both our shoulders. It’s so sickeningly sweet, like you have no idea. He’d kill me if he found out but I have image captures of him drooling all over Drift’s plating while he snores.”

Minimus smiled at him genuinely and Rodimus looked a little sheepishly at him before he cleared his intake to respond.“To answer your original question, I’m not well really. I miss it. I miss the ship and everyone on the ship, and all the weird reality bending scrap we got up to together, both on and off the ship. I don’t really know what to do with myself anymore but now, at least now, there are two bots here who want to keep me company while I figure it out. That’s...better. I’m better because of them, and hell, I’m better because you keep checking in on me too. Even Megatron’s been trying to ping me on and off for weeks and that’s been kinda nice. I’m trying, okay? You don’t have to worry so much about me anymore. I promise.”

That was good to hear. Concerning still, but much better than what he had been expecting. Minimus smiled at him, then frowned slightly reprovingly, slipping into old habits with him was so easy. “You really should return his comms at least. He misses you too you know. We both do.”

Rodimus’s optics squinted at him slightly, looking at his whole visible frame on the screen up and down before he pointed at him accusingly. “Oh my God you’ve fragged him haven’t you?! Holy shit, you and ol’ Megs are finally banging! Okay, you should have opened with that big piece of news because that is both great and hilarious. So how was it, is he a beast in the berth?” Rodimus waggled his brow ridges suggestively at him.

Minimus groaned and put his face in his hands. He knew he would have to bring this up with Rodimus, but he was hoping to broach the topic a tad more...delicately, responsibly, less mortifyingly. Well maybe not this exact topic. He was still unsure about whether to ask Rodimus for flirting tips. He was quite sure he had some, what he was unsure of was whether or not they’d be useful to him, personally. 

And he had meant to tell him, soon, that he and Megatron were, well together, and intended to make that permanent. They hadn’t talked about when yet but he assumed they would have some sort of small ceremony for their eventual conjunxing. Maybe a few bots from the crew that they all trusted. Rodimus would definitely be invited so it wasn’t a problem that he knew any of this, per se. 

Minimus ran his hands down his face in surrender. “Rodimus, what Megatron and I do together on our own time is private and unless I specifically ask for your input on it I’d prefer you not bring it up. But yes we are, ah together now, as a couple that is. I am extremely pleased with the direction our relationship is going in. You, Drift, and Ratchet would be invited to any ceremony, if we chose to have one of course. But we want to see you all regardless of that.”

Rodimus did a double take again before he spoke. “Ceremony?! Did he propose already? Holy scrap, did you propose already?! Minimus you gotta give me some details here otherwise I’m just using my imagination, spinning all these wild scenarios. And you don’t want me doing that when I’m comming the rest of the crew to announce you’ve finally loosened up and lived a little, now that you’re getting laid on the regular.”

Minimus groaned again at that. Fine, no details just the basics. “We’ve...interfaced several times and it’s been highly enjoyable. Really Rodimus do you need to know more than that? We love each other, we intend to make a permanent commitment to each other in that regard, and when we do we want you and our other friends there to witness it. Can we please change the topic? I wanted to ask how Drift and Ratchet are, you’re staying with them right now correct?”

Rodimus snorted and waved a hand at him dismissively. “Alright fine! Yeah I am, that’s why I’m off down this hallway right now actually. They both fell asleep while watching the movie and I had to sneak out from underneath them to get over here to this empty room. I’m currently trying not to wake them up. They’re fine, still disgustingly tender with each other, still deeply in love, all that jazz. Both of them are being really, ugh nice to me, which is more than a little disturbing coming from Ratchet but what can you do? But what we’re all up to pales in comparison to what you’re up to, even trapped on that little red rock, just the two of you. Wow, maybe just cause’ it’s just the two of you, am I right?” Rodimus winked. 

Minimus rolled his red optics. “We should really talk about you and the rest of the crew coming here to work as a base of operations, perhaps we can commission another quantum ship. Diose-8 is far out here in Dexa sector. There are a lot of unexplored planets and star fields around the Globulous cluster. We could also respond to distress signals and calls for help easier if we have a central hub of operations. I suppose what I’m getting at is do you want to lead our expedition and rescue teams when Megatron and I get the center we’re working on fully up and running?”

Rodimus’s optics fritzed out at that. He looked so young. Minimus wanted to reach through the screen and pat his shoulder reassuringly. Rodimus scratched the side of his head absently before finally meeting his optics through the screen. “Are you serious? Ugh what am I saying? It’s you, of course you’re serious. I...I want it to be the same. I want for it to be just like it was you know? But it won’t be. You and Megs are trapped on that rock, you can’t come with us, and we can’t really leave and just wander. It won’t be the same. So I don’t know, okay? I don’t know if that’s what I actually want.”

Minimus wanted to hug him this time. Instead he softened his optics as he spoke quietly to him. “I know. Believe me I know. It’s okay not to know if that’s what you want, all I'm asking is for you to come here and try it. We can all build something together far better than we can do anything on our own. You know this, it is one of the most remarkable things about you, how you inspire others to greater and higher things. Please, all I am asking for is for you to try here with us. It doesn’t have to be forever.”

Rodimus’s optics looked haunted as he murmured. “What if I want it to be forever though? What if that’s the problem? You and Megs left me Mims. You might not have meant to but you did, so did everyone else. It’s not fair and you know it. So what you’re asking of me is basically a leap of faith. That doing this again, forming the crew again, going out exploring again, becoming a family again, will be permanent this time. Can you make that promise? That that’s exactly how it will be?”

Minimus ex-vented heavily. He had lost so much. They had all lost so much. The problem was he couldn’t promise Rodimus that. He wanted to, so very badly, but he couldn’t. They were all meant to be traveling through this life as a crew but he couldn’t make them do that. Couldn’t make the universe allow it. But Minimus knew he had to try. That was what he had always been good at, diligence, persistence, hope. That would have to be enough, he would have to be enough. 

He straightened up and addressed Rodimus firmly. “I can’t. But that doesn’t mean trying isn’t worth it! We can’t give up yet, before we’ve even really started. I can promise you that I will do everything within my power never to see our family scattered to the galaxies like they are now ever again. So what do you want to do Rodimus? It’s entirely up to you whether you want to try again or not.”

Rodimus straightened up at that as well, his Matrix blue optics glowing with fiery determination. “Yeah. I mean yes, I am willing to try. Pit Mims when did you get so good at motivational speaking? Huh...Megs must be really rubbing off on you, in more ways than one, eh?”

Minimus didn’t roll his optics and he didn’t blush. Well he might have blushed a little but it didn’t matter, Rodimus had agreed to at least try to work with them. That was the important part!

He nodded and responded calmly. “Good. I’ll start filing the necessary paperwork through Windblade’s office for you three to come visit planetside and will inform you of the dates and times you’ll be allowed to visit. We’ll both be delighted to see you as soon as all of you are allowed to visit, though, please do respond to Megatron’s messages before then. I needed to speak with you very much. I can only imagine that he does as well.”

Rodimus looked a little guilty at that but his smile was wide when he responded. “Okay, yeah, yeah I’m irresistible I know. That is one thing I don’t miss about the _ Lost Light _though, paperwork. I’ll have to get used to it again I guess. Send the forms to me and then to Ratchet I guess. We’ll fill out whatever needs filling out and be on our way over in no time! Although I’ll be sure to knock first if the shuttle’s a’rockin’.”

Minimus did groan then. Rodimus loved Earth euphemisms far too much, especially ones about lewd subjects. The former Prime just grinned and waved a hand at him up and down. “Oh relax Minimus. There’s no way I’m the only one whose gonna tease you about that little love nest you two have got going on over there, so you might as well get used to it. We’ll see you soon. Rodimus out.”

Minimus barely got a sigh out out of his mouth before Rodimus had shut off the feed. He immediately composed a text comm and attached the relevant files to send off to Windblade as he walked back towards their habsuite. 

It was dark inside now and Megatron was lying flat on his back on his recharge slab. He hesitated for a moment, and Megatron must not have been in recharge because his massive hand silently beckoned him over. Minimus went without thinking and soon found himself being pulled up and over next to Megatron on the berth. 

He felt his deep voice rumble through where their chests were touching as he spoke. “How was he? He won’t answer his comms at all stubborn glitch that he is, so you’ll have to tell me.”

Minimus chided him gently by speaking his name once before telling him. “He’s doing better now that he’s staying with Drift and Ratchet. At least I think he is. He still seems...lost. He’s grieving I think. But I invited him and the two of them to come visit and already sent the requisite paperwork to Windblade.”

Megatron nodded and pulled him against him until he was so close he had to throw his leg up over his hip so as to not crush it. He hummed approvingly before turning to him, his red optics dim in the darkness. “Good. Not about him seeming sad still, of course, but about all of them visiting. It’ll be good to see some familiar faces and to feel a little bit more normal. As wonderful as this is, luckily I will never find myself lacking for beautiful company, I think we both might eventually go a little weird if it’s just the two of us here for all eternity.”

Minimus startled both of them by laughing at that. Megatron leaned over and pecked a kiss on the side of his forehead before drawing back as he smiled over at him fondly. Minimus sighed as he offlined his optics. “I love you, spending an eternity together sounds ideal. I think we are already ‘a little weird’ by most mech’s standards, but that’s fine. I want other company sometimes too, but as far as it being just the two of us for right now, I am so happy.”

He onlined his optics as Megatron grabbed his chin gently between his thumb and forefinger and brought their lips together in a slow kiss. His spark hummed faster and he pushed up against him to try and press closer even though they were flush. Minimus wasn’t used to this, he probably never would be, kissing him would always be a rush. He gladly opened his mouth for his tongue but Megatron only nipped at his lower lip playfully before withdrawing.

“Goodnight Minimus. I hope you have a restful recharge and some enjoyable dreams.”

He sounded far too smug for his liking in that moment. Minimus hummed neutrally and threw his arm over his massive chest in response, offlining his optics. “You too Megatron. Goodnight.”

He did have enjoyable dreams. They both did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOOHOOO!!!!! THEY FINALLY DID IT!!! Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, it was a lonnnnngggg one, but worth it imo. 
> 
> Alright official notes: Megatron's poem in this chapter is adapted from an open source poem called "To E.G., Dedicating a Book" found here http://www.public-domain-poetry.com/george-macdonald/to-e-g-dedicating-a-book-25141 (the poem in the next chapter on the other hand, was all me ehehehehe ;) )
> 
> The song lyrics are from Florence and the Machine's "Strangeness and Charm" because I'm a sap and I won't be stopped. (Get ready for more sappy song choices in chapter 5). 
> 
> I love Roddy and this fic is getting a sequel that is in Rodimus's perspective, for parts of this fic and then in the time after this one. I also intend to update You, Me & Bee before posting chapter 4 and 5 of this fic. Annnnnddd I posted a bit of lovely ShockOP/Alternate LL 25 fixit that is basically what happened to him and Optimus after they "died" in this verse. It's called "And After All Are One?" and it's also in the same series as this fic. 
> 
> Next Sunday I'm posting the last 2 chapters woo! And chapter 4 has the final piece of Helenadorf's wonderful art for this fic!!! Chapter five is a fluff and feels extravaganza epilogue because I have -5 self control. I hope y'all are enjoying the fic and are ready for its conclusion! I worked so hard on this for months and my artist and beta also worked so hard to bring all of this to you for the Big Bang! <3


	4. The Act of Profference

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay Helenadorf's last awesome piece of art happens in this chapter. I embedded it but here is a direct link for those of you who want one. https://helenadorf.tumblr.com/post/187098321018/heres-the-second-illustration-for-tfbigbang-and
> 
> This is technically the end, chapter 5 is the epilogue, so enjoy the last of this ride!!! ;)

He still wasn’t used to being allowed to look yet. 

Megatron often caught him at it now and simply smiled knowingly at him. To be fair he was staring at him openly a lot now too. Minimus would blush under his gaze when he noticed it and try not to think too hard about what else they could be doing besides gazing at each other. They still had so much work to do after all.

He had been trying to keep to a regular itinerary. Megatron also enjoyed working scheduled shifts it was just...they now appeared to be much more distractible than they ever were on the _ Lost Light _. They hadn’t been interfacing all over the ship then for one thing. 

Megatron had convinced him, well more like asked casually, to open up and peruse all the sub-folders he had locked down in his processor. They had been going through them systematically. Starting with the more innocent ones towards the top of the thought tree, for instance holding hands or recharging together, and working their way...down. 

Minimus had insisted on sharing a mutual spreadsheet, color coded and organized by date and time, to log specific acts and events. Red were things Megatron enjoyed, blue for Minimus, and purple were things they both quite liked. He’d been able to craft some rather informative bar graphs and drawn a couple of fascinating conclusions based off them. Megatron found the whole exercise amusing but he never tried to stop Minimus from doing it. 

He wanted to make sure he had the relevant data to satisfy Megatron as thoroughly as possible, he wanted him to be just as fulfilled as he was. He had noticed though that Megatron hadn’t been lying, on some level he had enjoyed everything they had done so far. Minimus could draw the breathtaking conclusion that it was because he was doing all those things with him specifically. He desperately wanted to draw that conclusion.

One of the things they both enjoyed was telling each other how much they loved each other during interface. He probably didn’t need more information than that to draw his conclusions but well...he wanted more data. Getting the relevant readings was the fun part. Oh by the stars was it fun. If only Swerve could see him now...well not the having fun part, Primus forbid anyone but Megatron see that, but the being able to have fun part. He’d really changed. 

It wasn’t a bad thing, as of late change had been very good for both of them. Both in their working relationship and their romantic one. He was happy. Primus he was so happy. But as much as he ardently wanted to spend all day in berth with Megatron they couldn’t. Or shouldn’t at least. 

They’d been making great strides in designing the massive systems they would need to dig and build in order to support a functioning base of operations. The energon mining was at the top of their list, they were also working on a power grid and sewage system. They didn’t require one the same way organics did but waste disposal and management was important for any large settlement. And the way they were marking the surrounding area, surveying it, and both drawing in Minimus’s architecture program, it was going to be a formidable installation. 

They had a conference call in exactly two hours in fact, with Windblade and Bumblebee. 

They were all going to discuss funding. Megatron had been working with Bee to secure some friendly relationships with various galactic trade brokers and they both had been asking around with the former crew of the _ Lost Light _ for financial backing. They could have just asked Drift or Cyclonus to cover the whole cost but Megatron was very firm on the idea of joint ownership of the operation. He believed it should be a collective where everyone had a stake in their organization, and as such everyone was a co-owner and had a voice. 

Of course he, Megatron, and Rodimus would still be the bots doing most of the day to day planning and logistics. But when it came to large policy decisions they would hold votes, one vote per mech, no one’s vote being worth more than any other’s. Minimus liked an orderly chain of command as a rule of thumb but he could also see the benefit of this system. And Megatron was very impassioned about it so he had agreed.

It’s just it would have been much easier to have one or two funders to work with instead of 189. Some of whom they were having trouble reaching after everything that had happened with Unicron. That was something he had built into their schedule, trying to connect via comm or video chat with various crew members, friends, or acquaintances. Not everyone was glad to hear from Megatron but so far no one had hung up on him immediately. 

That was another thing they were running through Windblade’s office, public relations. After the decarceration bill passed she had decided to hire quite a few former Decepticons. Some thought it was a publicity stunt but Minimus knew better. Swindle could sell rare ore to a mine that produced rare stellium ore at a 10% markup and convince them he was giving them a deal, after having stolen said stellium from the mine itself in small batches over the course of several months. That was an example from the war that the Autobots knew about, not hyperbole. 

There were probably even more outrageous instances of Swindle being dangerously convincing that they didn’t know about. 

So it made some amount of sense that Windblade had appointed him to manage the Cybertronian Public Relations Department. Onslaught and Blast Off were more concerning additions to the government than Swindle and yet...so far from what he had seen of them running the Port and Starship Bridge Authority office together they were doing a good job. Vortex and Brawl were once again working security but for Windblade’s office this time, not Starscream’s.

She had Moonracer helming the On/Off World Imports and Intergalactic Trade Branch though. Because it turned out Swindle couldn’t bribe her with anything. Which made her the most useful mech in that entire wing of the government. All of it was suddenly working very well. 

Windblade seemed much more happy and well rested when he comm’d her. He was planning on congratulating her on how things were going for the Cybertronian diaspora. Minimus had been composing a comm about it the previous night when Megatron had...distracted him with something new. 

He could, annoyingly, tell when Minimus was doing work that could be put off till later. It was a very dangerous power, he used it often and to great effect. They had ended up in berth and Megatron had started telling him about what he had been composing while Minimus worked on his comms. He had been writing him poetry. He had been doing so for a long time now, he had even let Minimus read some of them which was just...it made his spark feel so full it might burst. 

But this particular piece of poetry wasn’t about his sense of duty or justice or even how his spark longed to reach out and taste his own. It was about interfacing. And he had started to recite it as he rode him. Minimus stared up at him wide optic’d and slack jawed, helplessly pinned under his heavy hips.

_ I now know there are things sweeter than victory _

_ the taste of you dripping down my chin _

_ resplendent, thick, and delectable _

_ Swallowing your shouts with a curl of my tongue _

_ drowning deep between your thighs _

_ gasping, dim sighted, and half dead _

_ head and spark drunk on the feel of you _

_ it is a surrender most kind _

_ to be allowed to lay down beside you _

_ above you, inside you _

_ to bring you ecstasy, taut and tumbling above me _

_ I am at your mercy and it is a hot _

_ burning _

_ in the pit of me _

_ at the thought of your pleasure _

_ Given to me, from me, alone I _

_ Oh I, _

_ I come _

_ ...undone. _

Megatron had overloaded as he spoke the last part, spectacular; massive shoulders thrown back, his neck bent, his valve rippling and clenching so hard around him it was almost painful. He was still riding him through it, all of which was too much for him as well, he overloaded inside him with a weak cry. 

Megatron’s engine had growled at the sound of him. “Am I to understand you liked that piece more than my others Minimus?”

He had. Primus he truly had. Listening to Megatron recite poetry while riding him had been in one of the deepest locked sub-folders, but it had never occurred to him that the poetry would be about pleasuring Minimus. That was a clever addition and he was going to have to mark this entire experience as purple in the spreadsheet. 

Except for the part when he hadn’t been able to write a commendation letter to Windblade because they had done this instead. Minimus ex-vented raggedly. “It was...very well done as usual...although I can’t help but feel it might need a few more drafts until it reaches a final complete draft.”

Megatron’s optics burned a fierce red at that. “I see. Well then I will have to keep working on it. I think I could definitely use your help. You are an exemplary proofreader after all.” 

His valve undulated, pulling his spike even deeper inside of him and Minimus groaned and gasped out. “I, I, ah, _ Megatron _ I, always find it highly, mm, gratifying to help you, in any way....ahhhh-I! I can.”

Oh he was going to have to figure out how he was doing that with his valve. He needed to know so he could reciprocate it when they...when they finally took the time to do that. Megatron practically radiated smugness as he rode him slower and ground his hips in small circles. 

They had ended up going through that draft...for the rest of the night. 

He hadn’t had much time to work in the morning before their conference call and he was a little frustrated about it. 

The thing was, they couldn’t just, well they couldn’t just interface all over the building for hours on end! As much as his processor, spark, and array were screeching at him to do just that. They would...do that, all of that, later. He knew Megatron had been planning something, another date of sorts, but he didn’t know when and he hadn’t asked. There was supposedly something romantic about surprises, though he didn’t tend to like them most of the time.

Their conference call with Windblade and Bumblebee finally commenced and it started out bad and ended up going worse. Starscream was back. 

Neither one of them had been expecting to see Starscream solid and corporeal, or at all. He definitely took advantage of Megatron’s shock to goad him. There had been a lot of raised voices and angry red optics before Bee and Minimus had managed to step in and calm them down. 

Windblade apologized for Starscream basically ambushing them as he wasn’t supposed to be on the call today and suggested they reschedule. But not before she all but ordered Starscream to talk to Megatron later on his own and to “Work things out between yourselves like grown mechs for Solus’s sake!” 

Minimus had to agree. He knew that their relationship had ended badly, well it had been abusive before the end. He suspected that both parties had been, but he didn’t know that for sure. He also didn’t know if Megatron had ever tried to apologize to him and strongly suspected Starscream never had. They hadn’t had the opportunity to as Starscream was still in prison during Megatron’s second trial and then he had apparently ‘died’ sacrificing himself to stop Unicron.

Or more accurately had temporarily been a spark ghost and was now solid, real, and even more snide than usual. Now that they had the time though, Megatron needed to at least try and make amends with him. Minimus didn’t know how much amends, though he suspected quite a lot. He deserved at least that much. Not that Starscream would make it easy for him. 

He suddenly realized that he would have to ask about this. That he would have to know what happened. All of it. The way that Megatron had treated Starscream was wrong, it was one of his many wrongs, but unlike the rest of them he hadn’t tried to make it right...yet. 

Minimus needed to know why. He also needed to see. He knew he shouldn’t ask, not so soon after they started courting, but they needed to merge. Maybe a hardline? Oh, but Megatron was wary of anyone else trying to get into his processor, for valid and understandable reasons. 

Still he knew that they needed to be totally open with one another going forward and that it would be a great help. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust him, it was that he didn’t trust himself to fully understand. He lacked a great deal of context, he needed Megatron’s memories to full grasp the extent of things. 

Also he was elated at the thought of Megatron entering his own sub-systems processing and getting a better picture of who he was. A part of him longed to show him all the poetry he had written him but an even bigger part was still too nervous to do so. He had bad relationships and memories as well, had killed a great many people before in the Primal Vanguard, during the war and even after. He was a little nervous as to what Megatron would think of his true irreducible form and his beast alt-mode. He knew he wouldn’t judge him for it, his whole political movement had been about ‘equality for the disposable caste’ after all. But still it was a vulnerability he rarely revealed to anyone. 

What he was most excited to show him though were the good memories. The ones that made him smile and laugh and sigh. He wanted Megatron to open all the sub-folders full of explicit thoughts he had of him and rifle through the whole file, hot and hungry for the truth of it. Yes it was those thoughts he really needed to share. The light and the love and the desire. 

Megatron was sitting in front of the computer terminal in the lab that made holoprojections. He was staring past it at the wall, brooding hard enough the gears in his jaw were audibly groaning. 

Minimus approached him tentatively but he didn’t hesitate to put his hand on his arm as he spoke. Progress. “Megatron, you need to talk to him. I don’t understand the full scope and magnitude of what went on between the two of you but I know it didn’t end well. I suspect there are amends to be made on both sides, though you’re going to have to be the one that reaches out first.”

Megatron ex-vented loudly and placed his hand over Minimus’s. “I wasn’t always the one apologizing. Back then. But you’re right, we do need to talk, and I do need to apologize to him for far too many things. Everything else though, was pain we inflicted on each other, hurt to fill the void. I wasn’t a good bot back then. Neither was he. Pit, I don’t know if either of us are now, though I owe him at least that much.”

Minimus nodded seriously. “I want you to know I support you in that, but there’s something else I need to ask you because of it. I want to see what it was like Megatron. All of it. I’m not going to demand you merge with me like some jealous romance holo-novel lover but I am going to ask to share data with you. I want to show you all my memories, my feelings, my hopes, and particularly my desires. It’s hard for me to articulate them out loud, though I am trying for you. I was hoping we could share this as well. If you want to, that is.”

Megatron went completely still under his fingers and then furrowed his brow slightly. “I know we’re both too old to call it a ‘date night’ but that was essentially what I had planned for tonight. I was going to make some energon gummies that Tailgate and Swerve swore were the best from a recipe they concocted themselves, frag you for several hours, and then ask to sparkmerge with you. But this whole mess with Starscream has gone and ruined the surprise. I can’t help thinking that worrying about him, and all the memories that come with him, might distract us from what would be an otherwise enjoyable night.”

Minimus tried not to but he couldn’t help it, his hand flew to cover his mouth as he shook with laughter. That was...that was so nice but not at all what he had been expecting him to say. He’d been expecting rejection, anger, maybe that Megatron didn’t want to rush into a bond with him so soon. 

To be fair they had been interested in each other romantically for years now but their hm, interfacing relationship, was still so very new. And exciting. He was worried he wasn’t quite up to keeping up with Megatron but so far that hadn’t been a problem. He had enjoyed everything they had been doing immensely. It was like adding another layer of organization to an already color coded spreadsheet, highly satisfying.

Megatron raised a brow ridge at him curiously and Minimus smiled at him. “I’m not laughing because I think it’s funny, I’m laughing because I’m relieved. And excited. I want to know you, in every way. I’m not going to shy away from the bad I promise. Perhaps we are too old to call it a ‘date night’ but I still want to have one with you. Surprise or not. To be perfectly candid, I'd prefer it if future occasions weren’t a surprise, but if you like we can plan several spontaneous events into our combined calendars in the future.”

Megatron smiled crookedly at him. “I don’t think you actually understand the meaning of the word ‘spontaneous' Minimus, but yes. We can plan some future special nights together. I’ll leave a memo about it in our joint scheduling document.”

Minimus beamed at him. Of course he would understand. With that he squeezed his arm affectionately and withdrew. “I’ll leave you to your preparations then. Would it help if I went out? I can go check the atmospheric collection units near the perimeter alert beacons for a couple of hours.”

Megatron shook his head. “No. I don’t need you getting all muddy, becoming stressed out about being muddy, showering to get all the mud off, and then coming in here and being too tired to have a long, pleasurable evening. It’ll be fine if you stay here and read or something equally subdued.”

Minimus nodded thoughtfully and then left him to whatever it was he was doing on his computer terminal. 

Well, he could read one of the novels on his datapad or he could do something...else. A few weeks ago he never would have dared, but now, now he knew how good he could feel. He also knew now that Megatron wouldn’t be appalled to find him spread out on the berth, wet and ready for him. Delighted was probably the correct descriptor for what he would be.

Minimus hadn’t self serviced in a long time but the idea of opening all of those deep, dark sub-folders of his on Megatron, bringing them to the forefront of his processor for him to explore at his leisure, was tempting. Especially since he had direct confirmation that Megatron wanted to make love to him for several hours later that evening. Yes, doing that sounded like a productive use of his time. 

He climbed up onto their now shared berth and laid back. He offlined his optics so he wouldn’t have to stare at the ceiling while he thought about all of this. Minimus let his hands wander up and down his chest, he didn’t have to imagine what those big black hands would feel like on him, he knew. Instead of a fantasy it was a memory and the thought of it sent a zinging little charge up through his lines. He retracted his panels and stroked his green and white spike once before heading directly to his valve. 

Ah, Megatron had been enjoying using his fingers in his valve lately, stretching his internal configuration gently. It had almost been torturous how careful he was with him. Minimus could take a lot more than what he had been doing so far but he didn’t know how to convince him of that. He’d already enjoyed spiking Megatron as roughly as he could manage with their current size differential but he didn’t seem like he wanted to do the same to Minimus. Almost like he was worried he would hurt him. 

It was sweet but also a little worrying. Minimus was physically smaller than he was, that much was obvious, but he was just as strong and almost just as sturdy. Megatron had seen plenty of proof on both those fronts. Maybe he was just waiting for Minimus to ask him for it? 

That might be it. He probably didn’t think he would want to take his massive spike every night, and he would be right. Minimus would enjoy taking it at any time during the day as well. Specificity was important. He would have to discuss it with him...thoroughly.

He slid three of his fingers inside himself easily enough and sighed around them. This was good but not what he really wanted. He started the curl and scissor them wide inside himself as he ground his thumb up and over his anterior node. His body rewarded him with a gush of lubricants and he let out a soft whine. 

His charge was rising but it had plateaued for the moment. He now knew he could get his whole fist inside himself, as he recently taken four of Megatron’s fingers. It had left him in a shaking, twitching, sodden heap but he had done it. And Megatron had praised him lavishly for it. That had been the best part. Little sparks of static arced between his fingers and the ring of his valve as he shook at the memory of it. 

_ There! _

That was what he needed to do, think about Megatron and he could overload like this easily. He added a fourth finger and picked up speed, circling his hips in time with the thrust of his hand. Memories of Megatron’s tongue on his anterior node made him cry out. Not as loudly as if he had actually been there between his thighs but still audibly. The hand in his valve was making a rather obscene slapping sound now but it didn’t matter, he was so close. He needed to think of him, what he would say if he saw him like this, riding his own hand with abandon. 

Megatron’s voice was close and rough as he spoke his name. Minimus onlined his optics so fast they clicked. Megatron was standing at the edge of the berth watching him with hungry red optics. He slowed his pace but he didn’t stop. He knew he was blushing but he didn’t care. This was his lover, his soon to be be bondmate, he wanted him to look at him like this. 

His spark burned heavily in his chest. “Ho-how long have you ah-h, been watching me?”

Megatron rose up onto the edge of the berth and made his way over towards him. The sight of him crawling over to kneel in between his legs made Minimus’s engine turn over loudly. Megatron smiled widely at that. “Since you first made that noise. I immediately recognized it and as soon as I opened the door to the habsuite I could see you. I couldn’t help myself, you’re really quite a sight you know. And here I thought we were going to eat dinner first...before enjoying dessert.”

Minimus bit his lip, it was now or never, there was still one thing he really wanted. Badly. “Megatron. I enjoy everything we do together; the kissing, holding hands, cuddling in berth, interfacing in the washracks, interfacing on the laboratory slab, interfacing outside in the red dirt after sparring. But there’s something specific that I want right now. I want your spike inside me, all of it, all of you, while we merge with a hardline connection. I want to form a sparkbond with you, right now. I understand if you don’t want to, if this is too-”

Megatron cut him by leaning down and bracing hands on either side of his head, looming over him intensely. “Oh pit yes! I want that too. I had this speech prepared about my reasoning as to why I wanted to but it seems like you don’t need any convincing. I love you and I want you to know exactly how much, so yes. Yes let’s do that right now Minimus.”

Minimus withdrew his fingers from his valve with a shaky ex-vent and Megatron instantly took his hand and brought it to lips to lick off the lubricant dripping from it. He couldn’t have looked away from him right now if he had wanted to. 

Megatron started with his fingers, he was already stretched enough for three of them and he bucked and writhed against them, his charge ramping up to the level it had been at before he had stopped. 

When he added a fourth Minimus overloaded in a rush of pleasure, arching up off the berth towards him. As he was coming down from it he heard Megatron releasing his spike and eagerly looked down at it. He’d seen it before, even put his mouth around it, but as it slid up against the folds of his valve he went rigid in anticipation. 

Megatron slowly ground it up against his valve and Minimus keened for him, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. He started to move his tongue in his mouth in tandem with his rutting thrusts against him and it felt so good he almost overloaded again. 

He was the one to break the kiss his optics wide and wild as he looked up at him. “Megatron, I need, please, I need you to penetrate me.”

Megatron groaned against his neck before leaning back slightly and getting one hand down on his spike to guide it to his entrance. Minimus tried not to tense as he felt it start to enter him but he was now rigid, bracing for what it would feel like. 

Megatron made a frustrated noise before taking his hand off his spike to instead rub carefully at Minimus’s node. He called out wordlessly and relaxed enough that the head of his spike entered him with a soft pop. Both of them groaned in unison. It felt...he’d never felt anything like it before. It was hard and warm, yet supple. And so big. Primus. 

He knew he could do this, he wanted to do this but oh did he already feel so full. 

Megatron shook as he rolled his hips forward enough to sink in slightly further and Minimus moved his hips up at an angle, allowing him to push in deeper. On that stroke he was almost fully seated inside of him and that was enough to send him into an overload again. It was perfect, he was so wonderful. This was wonderful. Minimus was 96% sure he would white out and have another full systems crashing overload if he moved inside him fully.

Megatron was being cautious with him though, with his shallow thrusts, and gentle rocking, never fully entering him. That was pleasurable but not what he needed. 

He onlined his optics and looked at him desperately. “Please! I, I need you to move, please ah, oh pit, please frag me.”

He’d never said that word out loud before. At least not that he could recall but there it was and he’d meant it. Megatron seemed to understand the significance as well because he grinned wickedly and started to move in him. Their bodies rolled together and with each thrust Minimus was being pushed up the berth. 

He felt like he was falling apart, in the best way possible. Shaking to pieces beneath him, around him, the only way this could have been better was if they merged. 

Minimus shifted his internal components slightly and on his next deep thrust he bumped up against the valve folds and node of his irreducible form, Megatron could feel the difference and his optics went wide with shock. Minimus cried out as he overloaded again, this time Megatron joined him chanting his name over and over again like a mantra. 

Their cooling fans were screaming on their highest settings, both of them leaking heat in short huffs. Megatron was looking down at him with so much tender admiration. Minimus’s spark longed for his. He transformed away the four layers of plating from his chest to reveal his spark in the chest of his irreducible self. The green light danced flashing shadows across Megatron’s face as he stared down at him in silent awe. 

Minimus watched him swallow hard before he spoke. “For this to work, if you want to be inside each other in every way at once, then I’m going to have to mass shift. Is that alright?”

He nodded eagerly. Yes, that sounded perfect. 

He felt Megatron change shape inside him and against him rapidly but he was too busy uncoiling the hardline cable from his hip to look. Megatron took the offered cable and gave Minimus his own and then they were greeting each other in their shared system space, exchanging the customary handshake. 

After that Megatron let him into his processor and he felt him enter his as well. It was like walking through a quiet deserted library, everything orderly but some of the shelves shrouded in shadows as the lights had burnt out over them. He knew his own processor was set up to look like the enforcer database on Luna One. Neat and orderly white screens covered in dark gray text. 

He felt the exact moment when Megatron accessed his pleasure subsystems, his whole frame convulsed in a jerk under a wave of raw desire. Minimus was momentarily too distracted by that to notice him going through his recent memory files, the last several years. 

When he did regain his focus he started to wander Megatron’s own filing system, the dark purple bookshelves went on for an immeasurable distance. They eagerly browsed through each other’s memories of their time together here on Diose-8. Shared memories with a different perspective. 

Oh! Megatron had wanted to kiss him then too, run his hands into all his seams and shake out the sand. He’d missed him so much. Just wanted to hold him. Ah. He realized why Minimus had worked so hard to draft the release agreement, the bills and legislation for Optimus’s last pardon. He looked unflinchingly at all the memories of his desolate restless nights alone in the forging facility on New Luna One. 

And then there were 700 years worth of memories in the alternate Functionist universe. Minimus could see them all. So many instances of bravery in the face of impossible odds, a great deal of loss, he had lost Terminus a second time. And he had spent a lot of time trying to learn how to put himself and other mechs back together. Emotionally and physically, with the best equipment they could salvage. 

It had been grim but every single bot he worked with had looked at him with respect and awe. Megatron had been telling him the truth, he had tried every single day, to do better. 

Minimus felt guilty for ever doubting him on that but Megatron comforted him, telling him not to be. He’d given them all very little reason to trust him at that time. And even now Minimus hadn’t seen everything. With that Megatron opened his own chest plates to reveal his spark, grass green and glowing in the center of a warren of shifting black holes. 

Before he lowered his chest to his he murmured. “Do you trust me?”

Minimus hissed out. “Yes. Yes implicitly.”

Megatron nodded once and then brought their chests together while concentrating hard to move any lingering dark energy out of the way of their merge. 

For a moment their sparks flared against each other, coronas whipping out wildly, and then they met, kissed each other’s surfaces and sank together. It was like falling towards a planet with a thick atmosphere, he was burning up and plummeting and oh, his spirit was so bright. 

Then Megatron was there with him, all around him, washing over him, and there was so much. He loved him, admired him, wanted to be like him, wanted to be with him forever, together. They would move forward, move on, together. In their shared mind space he was in his irreducible form and Megatron professed he found him beautiful. That he was deeply moved to be shown what he considered his most vulnerable state. 

Minimus agreed enthusiastically, he loved him so much and trusted him to see him, all of him, and not turn away. He showed him how he missed him so much he’d have done anything to help free him, bring him back. Minimus let him see a few of his aborted prison break ideas through their hardline and felt him laugh delightedly. He was so anxious, he wanted him more than he knew how to say. 

He showed him his apartment on New Luna One, empty except for a desk and a berth he rarely used. Megatron tried to show him what the Mobius generator had been like, a constant stretched out dream. Living through every moment of his life over and over again. 

With that Megatron paused and then asked him, with all that he was, if he wanted to know him. All of him. Minimus knew what he was being asked and he responded ‘yes’ without any hesitation. 

The war, all of it, was laid out for him in excruciatingly minute detail. 

It was raw horror, pain, energon, sacrifice, death, so much vivid shredding death. And Megatron had enjoyed it. Not all of it, not towards the end and not for a while after killing the Senate in the beginning. But he had felt a dark excitement at his new power, his new control. He could never let that leave him, he needed it. It was the only thing that could protect him and those he cared for. It was imperfect, but he knew his new empire would have to serve that end. He refused to ever be a slave ever again. 

He had done terrible things, they flashed like a never ending parade of nightmares, screeching and clawing at Minimus’s spark. And he didn’t regret all of them. He knew it would upset him and was apologetic about it, he could feel that through their deepening merge almost like it was his own sadness. 

Minimus was sinking through the layers, and going back to the beginning, when Megatron had awoken in the dark hundreds of kilometers below ground and been told to get to work immediately. That life had been small and brutal. But Terminus had shown him a different way to live and thus a way out. He had written for them, all of them, down in the dirt, struggling. That was how it started but Trepan, and then Whirl’s attack had made him afraid. That in turn made him hard. Cruel. He let the world alter and twist him and he embraced the reformatting of his convictions. He became the Warlord instead of the Revolutionary. 

And he had been that mech for millions of years. 

He showed him what he had done to Starscream and Minimus tried not to wince away from it. 

He needed to look, to know. It was worse than what he had imagined. Megtron had beaten him down, they had physically fought, Starscream constantly trying to kill him. Over and over, hate became love, and love became hate, and they had tried to tear each other apart. In every petty, vicious, and bloody way imaginable. Starscream wanted to destroy him because he was the only person he still sought approval from. And he loathed the idea that Megatron would never approve of him so he wanted to destroy him instead. 

He couldn’t reason with him, and he couldn’t stop him. Megatron couldn’t kill him. They had fought a quiet and cold war, and then a hot violent and rending one over and over for millions of years. They had almost offlined each other thousands of times. It was gory, abusive, and terrifying. 

Megatron showed him everything, held nothing back even as Minimus wept, both inside and outside the merge. By the end of it they were both so shaken and raw that the points of contact between them were almost painful. Minimus knew what he had to do to reciprocate. 

He let Megatron into all of him as well. Minimus showed him all the Autobot military secrets he had been locking down and command override codes. He showed him the location of every cache of hard data and weapons in their entire network, the names and identification codes of all the deep undercover Autobot spies who were still operating under Prowl. He showed him all their tactics manuals and logs. It all seemed pointless and pale in the face of what Megatron had revealed to him but for him it was a revelation. 

He was marveling at everything Minimus was revealing to him because it was trust, unabashed, complete and utter trust. He knew Megatron would never use any of that information against him or the Autobots to start another war. 

Minimus knew that he could do all of that and more, and might even consider it, but he trusted him not to. That floored Megatron and their connection opened up wider, like a bridge between the two of them and something in the shared orbit of their sparks ignited. 

The searing tether of a fledgling spark bond. 

Minimus cried out in rapture as he overloaded around Megatron’s spike inside him. He’d almost forgotten it was there, which was miraculous in itself, until he climaxed and then the pleasure and the feeling of fullness was bouncing back and forth between them. Making Megatron’s lines light up and flair to life as well, both of them on fire inside each other, touching in ways no one else could touch them. 

It was so incredible to feel him overload inside him as well as against his spark. Both of their cries melded together in a drawn out noise of completion. He loved him, he loved Minimus as well. There was only acceptance between them, and pleasure, so much pleasure. It was perfection. They had said all the important things, shed all the layers of their armor for each other, and they were finally one. It was a blissful and joyous release. 

And then it was just a soft sort of peace, a warm embrace in each other’s minds.

They had become so intimately intertwined they had to separate from each other in stages. Moving their sparks apart had been the hardest and they were both particularly exhausted after that. He could feel how tired he was through the newly formed link between them. 

But then they unplugged from each other, after sharing several more data-packages of information back and forth to peruse at their leisure. Minimus had definitely given him every single one of the previously deeply forbidden sub-folders containing all the lewd and lascivious thoughts he’d had about him over the years. Megatron had sent him reams and reams of unfinished poetry, beautiful fragments, some of it very obviously about him. 

They eventually got cleaned up, Megatron rose stiffly to come back with a washcloth and some strangely lumpy looking energon goodies. Minimus cleaned himself up and then reached for Megatron, but he just took the cloth from him and handed him an energon goodie. It may have looked misshapen but it tasted quite good, dry and sweet and a little spicy. 

He popped two more into his mouth and was reaching for another one when Megatron smiled at him and took the one he was about to grab for himself. “I take it that even though they’re a little ugly they’re good? Or at least that you like them?”

Minimus nodded and massaged his free hand into his own chest without thinking about it. “Yes! You’ll have to teach me how to make them as well. I want to make some for you sometime.”

Megatron smiled at him and laid his hand over his own on his chest. His spark thrummed happily underneath both their hands. “I can try. I’m not sure I’m going to be a very good teacher though as I might have botched the first three heating phases on this batch. But I’m glad you like them, I’ve been working on them for a while. It seems learning new skills solely for the purpose of impressing your partner is valid. I owe Starscream 500 shanix...and a long drawn out apology.”

Minimus laughed and leaned forward to kiss him and they both fell back onto the berth together. This had been a perfect date, he hoped they would all end with him feeling this wonderful. Whether they involved cooking or interfacing or even getting sand in his seams at the beach he knew he would enjoy it because they were together. 

That shared sentiment trickled through their bond and they both smiled against each other’s mouths before falling into recharge together. Both completely satisfied and content with each other for the first time in millions of years.

Rodimus, Ratchet, and Drift had finally gotten approval from the New Council of Worlds to come visit them. It had taken some form filing, in triplicate, but Windblade had managed to sway the council on allowing former  _ Lost Light  _ crew members to visit. She had used the logic that they were already used to Megatron and he hadn’t caused any trouble with them in the past so it would probably be fine. Conveniently forgetting to mention Getaway’s mutiny. The ease with which she convinced them to go along with it did bode well for more visits in the future. 

Minimus knew he shouldn’t be nervous. He was excited to see Rodimus, they both were. And he was looking forward to seeing Drift and Ratchet as well, just first and foremost Rodimus. He knew they would all be supportive, they had been during their previous video chats. But it was one thing to see something from a distance, an entire other thing to see it in person. 

Megatron’s hand was warm and heavy on his shoulder as they watched Drift and Ratchet’s small shuttle descend through the quiet nighttime atmosphere. Minimus still wasn’t used to all the touching they had been doing lately. It made him feel hot and excited. 

He had also recently made the ‘mistake’ of asking Megatron how he wanted to be flirted with. That little conversation had led to several deliciously drawn out hours in berth, but it had also revealed how much Megatron enjoyed casual physical contact from him. Genuine compliments definitely worked but so did a hand on his waist or knee while they talked of seemingly unrelated trivial things. Subtle statements of interest, yet they meant so much to both of them. Minimus was still a little shy about how much he wanted to touch him though. And when they did touch it kept making his spark ache. Everytime it did he knew Megatron could feel it as well through their sparkbond. He would comfortingly stroke his fingers down the side of his face, or gently take his hand in his, or just lean in and press his side into his shoulder. 

Their bond was new still and so far they hadn’t really opened it up wide enough to send anything more than fleeting surface feelings, but now Megatron knew his most frustrating secret. He could feel exactly how deeply and desperately Minimus wanted him near, always. 

Megatron’s hand squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and Minimus ex-vented slowly trying to calm his rapidly spinning spark. There was no reason to be apprehensive, these were their friends after all, both their friends. They wanted to see them happy together, this was supposed to be a joyful reunion. 

The shuttle set down a dozen meters ahead of them and almost immediately the bay doors opened and the docking footpad landed on the cool red soil of their little planet. Minimus couldn’t have stopped the smile splitting his face even if he had wanted to as Rodimus’s red and yellow head popped out of the opening and he shouted excitedly at both of them. 

He ran down the ramp waving at them and Minimus had just enough time to see Drift and Ratchet also approach the top of the ramp before everything changed.

As soon as Rodimus put his foot down on the dirt at the base of the ramp the world around them lit up. Waves and waves of light, gently bobbing to life, at first faint flickers and then an audible ozone crackle as they all burned to full strength into blue and green life. 

For as far as he could make out in the dark, in every direction, the planet had become a glowing sea of newsparks. 

The little, mostly blue orbs thrummed, reflected like the millions of stars that crackled up above them in the night sky. Everyone gasped audibly, optics huge as they took in the sight before them. The ones on the ground closest to Rodimus flickered brilliantly, pulsing in time with his now panicked ventilations as he looked around in every direction wildly. Minimus felt Megatron’s hand move down his arm and he reached up instinctively to grasp it. 

He leaned down and murmured in Minimus audial. “I suppose I really should switch my specialization to obstetrics after all.”

Minimus laughed, it was quiet and his hand immediately flew to his mouth to cover it but it got Rodimus’s attention. He whipped around to look at the two of them, his blue optics burning the same color as the waves and waves of newsparks surrounding them. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. 

The first person to actually speak loud enough to break the tense silence was Ratchet. He and Drift descended the ramp as he frowned and pointed at Rodimus. “What did you do!?”

That spurred Rodimus into action, he crossed his arms defensively and looked sullenly back at Ratchet instead of at the far-reaching, gently pulsating hotspot he had just ignited. “Nothing! Well, nothing on purpose anyway! After we defeated the alternate Functionist Council all the creation matrixes were supposed to be dead, tapped out of energy after igniting all those sparks on New Luna One. I might’ve kept one...but it  _ was  _ dead! It didn’t feel like the matrix did when it was alive, there was no light, really it was just a shiny sentimental souvenir!”

To prove his point he opened his chest plates and revealed the light of his spark, thrumming in the center of a very obviously alive matrix. He stared down at it slack jawed as Ratchet grumbled something that sounded like “Fraggin’ Primes.” 

Whereas Drift rushed towards him, his blue optics glowing with open wonder. “Rodimus! Do you know what this means!?”

Rodimus shook his head slowly, trying to make sense of it all while he mumbled. “I’m going to be a dad again? Scrap. I don’t think I’m cut out for that, even Optimus turned out to be a kinda shitty one sometimes and he was the Prime for millions of years.”

Ratchet snorted at that but he was smiling. Minimus surprised himself by reaching the same conclusion Drift had as he spoke out loud. “Rodimus, with a functional creation matrix it’s possible for you to ignite hotspots on multiple worlds, maybe even infinite worlds. It means that our species won’t ever die out. That we have a future again.”

The enormity of that seemed to hit them all at once as they rocked back on their heels in unison. They could use this planet as a home base of operations like Minimus had intended. They could explore the galaxy finding worlds with viable conditions for newsparks, and communities willing to host them, and Rodimus and the rest of the former  _ Lost Light _ crew could travel there to start up new hotspots. And while they were out and about they could help people and planets they discovered along the way. There was so much unexplored territory in the universe yet. 

Leave it to Rodimus to make an entirely inappropriate connection though. 

His face lit up mischievously as he rounded on Megatron and pointed at him. “Hey did you guys ever tell Megs about how after Rewind shot him through the spark in the past Whirl replaced it with the super spark Brainstorm had harvested from the hotspot I lit up on Luna One the first time? If I’m definitely the dad of all these new little guys then that totally makes me Megatron’s dad as well!”

Everyone groaned in unison and Megatron took his other hand that wasn’t holding Minimus’s and pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s not how it works and you know it Rodimus.”

Rodimus’s slag-eating grin only got wider as he responded. “Whatever you say  _ son _ .”

Minimus was actually close enough to hear the sound of Megatron clenching his jaw and he squeezed his hand reassuringly as he spoke to Rodimus sternly. “All joking aside we’ll need to get to work stabilizing all of these newsparks immediately. We don’t have the hands or the technology to get them all into containment tanks like at the facility on New Luna One. I’m afraid that means you can’t leave Rodimus, unless you want to see most of these newsparks go dark.”

That sobered him up, in a flash his toothy grin was gone. Minimus noticed, with worry, how deep the dark circles under his optics were for the first time. Rodimus slumped slightly as he gestured around him. “No I don’t want to see that, not again, not ever again. I’ll stay. We should probably all stay shouldn’t we? You two are going to need all the help you can get after all.”

Drift came forward and wrapped his arm comfortingly around Rodimus’s shoulder and Ratchet followed his lead, coming around to Rodimus’s other side to grab his hand. That seemed to make all the difference. Minimus noticed with interest how relaxed all three of them were around each other. Now that Rodimus was sandwiched in between the two of them he looked much younger, and happier again. 

Megatron noticed it as well and took the chance to get back at Rodimus a little for all the dad comments. “Ah. I was worried about you when you wouldn’t respond to any of my comms at first but I can see now that it was unwarranted. You appear to be in good hands and not nearly as lonely as Minimus was making you out to be.”

Rodimus actually blushed and oh, Minimus hadn’t seen him do that in a long time. Ratchet let go of his hand and wrapped his arm casually around his waist and Drift smiled at the two of them before he turned his grin on Megatron and Minimus. “Yeah about that, we we going to to make it a bit of a surprise, but uh... I think all of us have had enough of those for this evening. Roddy is with us now. We’re gonna make it an official trine later but we wanted you two to be the first to know since you’re his co-captain and first officer and all.”

All three of them were smiling now and Minimus didn’t try to hide his own from them like he would have done in the past. Megatron spoke for them both in his deep baritone rumble. “Then I believe congratulations are in order. As beautiful as it out here among the sparks and stars we should probably go inside, Minimus has prepared a meal for all of us to share.”

That got Rodimus’s attention as he head whipped around to look at him incredulously. “Seriously?! I didn’t know you could cook Mims! What other hidden talents have you revealed to this ole’ bucket of bolts here without me?”

It was Minimus’s turn to blush and he stumbled over his words. “Oh! I don’t, er, I didn’t. Ah. I’ve been practicing many things with Megatron, that is.”

All three of the bots in front him gave each other sidelong looks but stopped immediately when they saw Megatron’s dark concentrated glare. Drift was the smartest out of the bunch of them it seemed because he started to tug the other two towards the research facility ahead of them while saying. “I’m sure it’ll taste wonderful Minimus! I’m also sure each and every one of us will enjoy eating it with you both, right guys?”

Both Ratchet and Rodimus mumbled something that sounded like begrudging agreement as they followed him towards the buildings. Minimus looked up at Megatron then, he was smiling down at him fondly. Impulsively he leaned up and grabbed Megatron by the collar faring and pulled him down for a quick kiss. Megatron had other ideas about how quick it should be though as he pulled Minimus to his chest and kept him there, deepening it. 

He could do this forever. He wanted to do this forever. 

They only broke apart because of Ratchet clearing his intake really loudly from behind them. Minimus’s face was hot as he met Ratchet’s wry expression. 

The medic bot was the only one still outside as Drift and Rodimus were already tearing the research facility apart examining and snooping into everything. Ratchet smiled crookedly at them both. “It seems like I should be congratulating you two too. I must admit the idea was a little strange to me at first but seeing you has convinced me. I’ve never seen either of you smile so much before. And I won’t bring up how heated that little display just now was for all our dignities sakes. But it did do a good job of convincing me you’re both very happy together. Now come on and show us all around before Rodimus breaks some important scientific instruments or-.”

As soon as he said it there was an audible crash from inside which saved Minimus from combusting in embarrassment right then and there. Megatron chuckled and took his hand, bringing it to his lips for a brief kiss and Minimus briefly forgot to be embarrassed. 

Oh, how he loved this bot. That thought rang through their bonded sparks loud and clear and Megatron returned it as well. Ratchet was right, they were happy, so happy. Hopefully, even with the complication of several thousand sparklings and a new mission, they would continue to be happy. All of them. Together. That was simply the best any of them could ask for and it seemed like it was finally happening. 

He murmured up at Megatron. “I’ll need to comm Lug and Anode immediately as they said they needed at least six months advance notice before coming to visit. They’ll want to be here to help with all these newsparks.”

Megatron nodded seriously, he seemed strangely nervous as he sunk to his knees in front of him. “Yes they’ll want to be here for all the sparklings...as well as for our upcoming conjunxing ceremony. That is if you would do me the honor of marrying me Minimus?”

Minimus’s optics blew wide in surprise for a frozen second before he was rushed forward to hug him while whispering ‘yes!’ over and over again. He kissed him on every part of plating he could reach with his mouth as Megatron rumbled elated laughter deep in his chest. 

Minimus stopped, ex-venting hard as he tugged him by the hand to his feet again and they both entered the warm glow of their shared dwelling grinning brilliantly. Their smiles didn’t even falter as they watched Drift and Rodimus attempt to put out a small fire that had sprung up from their laboratory centrifuge. Yes, everything would be fine. He could finally feel it, they were home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I'm so happy I did the Big Bang this year!!!! I had an amazing art partner in @helenadorf who did both beautiful illustrations for this fic and who watched me live write the last two chapters in a frenzy before the official deadline lol. A great beta in @ starscrearn on Twitter. The organizers, everyone who participated etc etc did such a good job!!!
> 
> Alright: this chapter I wrote the poetry, that was allll meeee lol. And idea of them having a sexy spreadsheet is probably gonna show up in all my other Minimus fics at some point because it's too good. This fic gave me so many horny galaxy brain ideas for these two it was almost magical.
> 
> I knew Roddy was gonna ignite a hot spot and that would be the official end to this fic before I even started writing because there's a sequel to this fic!! I'm writing it currently, it's gonna be from Roddy's POV and more of his relationship with Drift and Ratchet. Also they're gonna work on the base, tentatively named Brightest Beacon, and fic is Whisper From The Spark. So keep your eyes peeled for that, subscribe to the series this fic is a part of if you want the update in your inbox for any more fics in this verse. I've got two more planned. The one about Roddy and a shorter one about Rewind finally "finding" Rung. Cause I have to give the gang some Rung closure. I can't not. 
> 
> Also I want to thank all of y'all for reading and writing comments etc! I really appreciate each and every one even if it's just "awesome!" or "I love this!" XD All of you keep me going with your encouragement! And if you want to support me else where, or freak out about this fic follow me on Twitter @ basilbing


	5. Happy Endings and Beginnings

**6 Months Later:**

Diose-8 had suddenly had another population boom. Luckily it was the perfect day for a wedding. Minimus had to keep telling himself that everything was taken care of. 

He hadn’t forgotten to invite anyone. He hadn’t left any of the seating charts to Rodimus, and he had definitely obeyed all security protocols and inspections for incoming guests. It was going to be fine, in fact it was going to be the happiest day of his life thus far. If he just kept repeating that then the nervous churning in his tanks would have to stop. That nasty little nagging voice in the back of his processor would have to stop saying he didn’t deserve to have this, that he didn’t deserve to have him.

He had left him earlier that morning to start running through the incoming shuttles and their passenger manifests and hadn’t seen Megatron since. There was an old human superstition about intendeds seeing each other before the ceremony and it being bad luck. He was so busy though, he hadn’t needed to worry about that. Well...he’d worried about it for the last couple weeks anyway because thinking of every possible contingency and possible problem was how he coped with stress. 

Megatron had actually been lovely and a huge help with the planning and execution of today’s celebration. He just wasn’t allowed to help clear people through the incoming security checkpoint for unfortunate reasons. 

So Minimus, Drift, and Ratchet had been doing it all morning and he found the whole process to be very soothing. Being congratulated by everyone as they disembarked was a little overwhelming as he wasn’t used to so much attention. Otherwise doing shuttle inspections and clearing people to land on the planet was a familiar and relaxing routine.

He was trying very steadfastly not to think of his vows, or rather what he had written in them. It was silly, he knew it was silly, but he wanted them to be perfect. Minimus had agonized over the exact right thing to say and how to say it. He had hundreds of different versions saved and none of them seemed exactly right. 

There was one part in particular he was concerned about. He had written him poetry. So many pieces, even before they had started courting, that he hadn’t shown him yet. He knew he would never be a great poet like Megatron and had accepted that, but that didn’t mean he didn’t put his feelings into glyphs for him often. He just hadn’t shown him any in particular. Megatron knew about them vaguely as they’d rushed past him in their merges but he had sensed Minimus was nervous about him seeing them so he had left those files alone in his processor. 

Minimus was interrupted from that train of thought by a loud shout from in front of him. He looked up to see Verity launching herself at him from the nearest shuttle bay doors. “Uncle Magnus!!!”

He caught her effortlessly even though she was bigger than she used to be to him in his current form. Minimus had known she was coming with Thundercracker and Marissa Fairborne from Earth, still it was a joy to see her again. He had thought he never would again.

He hugged her back and smiled. “Verity! I’m so pleased to see you again! How are you doing?”

She grinned up at him and raised a single black brow. “I’m still just as good as the last time you video called me two days ago Mims. How about you!? I bet you’re ridiculously excited for today.”

He felt his cheeks heat with energon as he smiled sheepishly. “Yes, of course I am. I’m also terribly nervous.”

Verity laughed and smacked him on the chest before swiveling around to be let go. He did so and she beamed up at him. “That’s just normal pre-wedding jitters. I’m so happy for you, seriously, you’re some of the only family I have left now that Springer is...sometime else, I can’t help but think he might have had something to do with all of this. But I wouldn’t have missed this for the world!”

He smiled down genuinely at her. He had missed her more than he had let on. “I’m aware that it is customary to have friends and family celebrate with the couple on this day so it was only logical to invite you, as you are both. Thank you for coming all the same.”

She laughed at him a little before giving him a double thumbs up and then walking down towards the rest of the crowd milling around in front of their seats. Thundercracker and Marissa also greeted him as they disembarked and Buster ran around his legs twice before bolting for Cosmos in the crowd. 

Cosmos scooped her up and brought her to his faceplate so she could lick it excitedly. Soundwave was standing next to him and he had one hand subtly wrapped around Cosmos’s waist. He greeted Thundercracker with a wave and the four of them started to talk and coo over Buster. Minimus returned to inspecting their ship and clearing the next one to land. 

He and Megatron had both wanted to have the entire crew of the _ Lost Light _ there for their ceremony but somehow they had ended up inviting pretty much everyone they knew who was still alive. Even a few people who had recently come back from the dead. The next ship contained one of the more controversial guests. Windblade, Bumblebee, and Starscream disembarked it and approached Minimus with his datapad and scanner.

Starscream immediately sneered at him. “They have you playing port authority? On _ your _ big day? If I was the one getting married I wouldn’t have lifted a finger all day, everyone would have to wait on me hand and foot, listen to my every command, and carry me everywhere because it was my special day and I deserved to be treated like a king.”

Windblade snorted. “How is that any different from how you force people to treat you everyday on the _ Tellistrad _?”

Starscream opened his mouth to yell back but Bumblebee cut him off. “And that’s why when we have our trine bonding it’s going to be a more intimate and subdued affair, immediate family only.”

Starscream snapped his mouth shut then glared at Bee while blushing slightly. “We haven’t, you two!!! You keep acting like I’ve already said yes! You can’t trine someone against their will, you- you inconsiderate Autobot brutes!”

Windblade and Bumblebee simply shared a knowing look and shrugged before continuing to walk towards the rest of the guests, a sputtering Starscream trailing after them angrily. He had suspected that Windblade and Starscream might be a couple but learning that Bee was with both of them as well was a bit of a surprise.

Chromia, Nautica, and Velocity exited off the same ship and they waved happily at Minimus before congratulating him as well. Velocity actually scooped him up in a hug. As she put him down she gushed. “I’m so happy for the two of you, seriously this is so wonderful! Also I can’t wait to stay after the ceremony and get to work! The portable cube labs we’ve brought with us are state of the art, Brainstorm and Perceptor are bringing the other two that are gonna snap together with Nautica’s and mine. They should be landing over in area C right now actually.”

She shielded her eyes and looked across the gathered crowd and rows of parked space shuttles and ships. Another ship was landing and she pointed at it and Nautica made an excited noise before she grabbed both Velocity and Chromia’s hands and lead them off towards it. Chromia winked at him with a smirk as she was pulled along and Minimus wondered briefly what that was all about.

The last ship to arrive was the Scavengers’s. Which was probably because the outer wing mounted engines appeared to be attached with duct tape and some sort of high density string. The name on the hull of the ship dubbed it _ Krok’s Last Resort _. Indeed. 

Minimus was surprised to see Fortress Maximus and Roller stumble out of the ship first, followed by an alarming large cloud of black smoke. Before he could say anything Misfire and Grimlock came barreling out towards as Fulcrum shouted. “It had way too many teeth, and they grew back! Teeth are supposed to be replaced by someone, preferably Nickel, they sure as pit aren’t supposed to grow back!”

Krok, Crankcase, Cons4eva, Spinister, and Nickel came into view next amid the smoke billowing out of the hold. Minimus was about to demand to know what was happening when Nickel was the last out of the ship. She was holding some sort of long, furry, organic looking creature in her fist triumphantly above her head as she crowed. “I got it! The little glitch is slipperier than a greased up actuator but I finally caught it!!”

Everyone turned to look back at her in horror as Krok ran a heavy hand down his face. “Okay I guess that means Spinister can repair the engines but uh, just what are you going to do with it while we’re at this wedding thing? We can’t let it run loose until we get back. Us and several other bots around here won’t be able to leave because it chowed down on their ship’s fuel lines and data cables.”

Well, Minimus had a solution for that problem at least! He surged forward and took a containment field generator from him subspace. With a click it scanned the creature and when he placed it against its fur it rippled and then went stiff. Nickel dropped its now frozen form into his hands with a slightly disgusted noise as Minimus spoke. “I shall hold onto any...contraband materials, including invasive organic species, for the duration. They will be returned to your person before you leave.”

Fulcrum waved at him and grimaced. “We don’t want it back! Really, uh, consider it a wedding gift? Ugh slag we don’t hate you enough for that, ah maybe just let it lose on Starscream’s ship?”

Roller snorted at that and Minimus ex-vented in defeat. “Fortress Maximus, I trust you, as the most recent Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord, can inspect your ship for illegal and or dangerous modifications while I go deposit this, hm, quarantined creature inside?”

Fort Max looked embarrassed but then straightened and accepted the scanner from Minimus. “Of course Minimus. None of us want to do anything that would ruin or disrupt this day for you. I’ll make sure everything is...in proper order.”

He didn’t seem so sure about the last part but Minimus let it slide. He then took the large looking ferret-type organic creature to deposit it in the research station’s lab. Once he set it down on the examination table he turned around to look at the door to their shared habsuite. He knew he wasn’t supposed to peek but he wanted to so badly. Rodimus was in there giving Megatron what he was calling a “Pre-wedding Pep Talk.” 

Now that the shuttles had all been checked in and all the passengers had disembarked he knew it would be his turn for a wax and polish and whatever Rodimus wanted to say to him before hand. So he refrained from looking in on them and went to wait outside by where all the guests were mingling trying to find their seats or greet old and new friends. 

Swerve and Riptide were already setting up the bar for the reception further away on the flat packed red ground but it looked like they were being distracted by Misfire who was practically hanging off of Swerve. Grimlock was there as well trying to help them set up the reception tables and chairs. Nickel and Roller were now wandering over as well, hand in hand, as they asked Grimlock if he needed help with the chairs. 

Minimus smiled warmly as he noticed Lug and Anode bounding towards him from across the way where Velocity, Chromia, and Nautica were sitting. He had greeted them when the New Luna One shuttle had arrived but they hadn’t had time to speak. Not that he had a lot of time at the moment but Rodimus still hadn’t come to get him. 

Anode hugged him from one side and Lug from the other as they both gushed a loud ‘congratulations!’ at him. 

Anode elbowed him affectionately in the side before she swung around to address him giddily. “We’re so excited for you Minimus! Seriously this is gonna be great, you look so happy by the way! Like I haven’t seen you all...glowy like this before. Doesn’t he look great Lug?”

The smaller red bot pulled away from him too, looping her arm around Anode’s waist. “Yup! You look exactly like someone who is getting married to the love of their life today. Which is the right kind of look for this occasion. I hope that was what you were shooting for.”

Minimus nodded, still smiling at both of them. “I know Rodimus is going to get Drift to apply some fresh paint and maybe wax me but yes this is mostly the look I was going for today.”

Anode staggered back mock-stricken. “He jokes! Again! Arg! And here I thought you were gonna give me a sparkattack when you told me how many newsparks were suddenly on this world! Jokes though, that’s just too much even for me!”

Lug giggled at her conjunx and then smiled warmly up at Minimus. “We were shocked to hear about the sparklings but like we said in our comms we’re happy to help out here until you have them all in containment. We’re sorry this was the earliest we could get away from New Luna One, we know it’s been hard for just the five of you to try and stabilize all the sparks.”

Anode suddenly looked more serious. “We also know how antsy Rodimus gets around anything serious and responsibility based so we’d be willing to stay for a while after the wedding to make sure all the sparks get set up in containment. That way he can jet off into space if he needs to get away for awhile.”

Just then Rodimus exited the door to the habsuite with Drift trailing after him, and Ratchet trailing after Drift. Minimus watched as the three of them interacted. Ratchet placed his hand on his shoulder and Drift placed his hand on Rodimus’s hip while they all talked animatedly to each other. 

Lug and Anode were watching them with wide opticed interest now too as Minimus muttered. “I don’t think he’s as opposed to serious responsibility and long term commitment anymore. But as I said in my missives we welcome any help you’re able to offer.”

Anode opened her mouth wide, no doubt to shout something highly inappropriate and saucy at Rodimus loudly, before Lug slapped at hand over it. She turned to Minimus apologetically. “I see, well then we’ll both let you get ready. Nothing else to see or _ comment _ on here, right Anode?”

Anode grumbled from behind her hand and then nodded reluctantly and Lug removed her hand. But then she snapped her finger and blurted out. “Oh! The youngsparks got you a gift since they couldn’t all come.” 

She shoved a small package at him, wrapped in silver foil with a red metal ribbon. He opened it carefully to reveal a small holo-image projected in 3-D glass. It was all the newsparks waving at him, then it shifted through images of several of them as sparklings with him holding and singing to them, then it revealed pictures of all of them at their new jobs. It was a family photo album. He felt himself tearing up as he lunged forward to hide it as he hugged both of them to his chest. “It’s perfect. Thank you. Tell them thank you, and tell them that I am still so proud of them...and that I love them all.”

They both smiled sincerely at him, Anode a little more crookedly than Lug, as they hugged him back quickly and turned to leave. He subspaced the little glass holo-projected album to protect it and to have it with him during this important day. His attention was then drawn back to Rodimus, Drift, and Ratchet as they approached him.

Rodimus almost bowled him over as he embraced him and Minimus sputtered a little as he pulled back and grinned down at him brilliantly. “Alright I’ve got Megs as prettied up as he’s gonna get so now it’s your turn! He’s along the back of the building till we tell him it’s alright to go stand at the altar waiting all nervously for you.”

He winked an optic at him as he started to pull him back towards the building. Drift was looking just as mischievous as Rodimus but Ratchet was giving him a sympathetic frown. As soon as they got him in the door all three of them crowded him into the washracks. Both Drift and Rodimus attempted to scrub him down but he just swatted their hands away pointedly and said he’d do at least that much himself. 

They snickered as Ratchet got out the paints and waxes from a kit he had brought into the racks with him. He was mixing something up with a mortar and pestle as Drift started to snap a paint that matched his own green into the canister on the laser etcher. Minimus went through the drier and then walked over to them trying not to fidget. Rodimus was now just leaning against the tile wall watching him smugly. Drift motioned for him to come closer and sit down on the low stool they had brought in. 

Drift bit his lip as he concentrated on Minimus’s face. “I’m gonna do your face and chest first, I’ll have you stand for the legs and back. Try not to move too much. It might tickle a little though, I’m sorry.”

And with that he got to work. He was gentle and surprisingly quick, the hiss of the nanite paint didn’t tickle enough to make him squirm so he offlinned his optics and waited for him to complete his face. After he was done with that he had him stand and that was when Rodimus decided it was time for his own “Pep talk.”

He pushed off the wall and grinned at Minimus. “I’m gonna give you pretty much the same spiel I gave Megs but in reverse so bear with me here. I’ve never seen you smile so much, really both of you have this constant little quirk to your lips now and it gets even more noticeable when you look at each other. Drift and Ratchet do it too. Ah! Don’t say you don’t I can see you all the time!”

He waved at Ratchet who only grumbled at little and went back to mixing something together with a palette knife. 

Rodimus continued more seriously. “Look, we didn’t start out a great team, all of us, but we became one. So even before the whole hotspot thing I wanted to try and make it work but now I’m all in. All of us are. The whole crew. Everyone wants to get back together and do this thing! This time though there’s gonna be three co-captains, you’re just as important as me and Megs. And we’re each gonna have our own SICs for our divisions. Megs is gonna run the forging center, I’m doing exploration and rescue, and you’re doing resource acquisition and management. It’s gonna be amazing because we’re all amazing. The only problem I can think of is if you two ever break up it’ll be an unholy mess.”

All three of them groaned at that. Minimus could think of hundreds of other problems that might occur before the particular one. He had no intention of ever leaving Megatron so Rodimus really shouldn’t even be worried about it. He started to put his hand to his chest but Drift grabbed it by the wrist and eased it away mumbling “It’s not dry yet.” 

Minimus put as much feeling as he could into his words as he spoke. “Rodimus, that’s...while I appreciate your concern in that area I highly doubt that will ever happen. We’ve, ah, we’ve found peace in each other and contentment. Love is like a river, there is a start and sometimes there is an end, but the water that makes it up is forever, constantly being replenished by condensation from the original source.”

Rodimus’s optics softened at him. “Oh that better be in your vows because that’s really good. You two are both poets, it seems like you were made for each other. Oh and Megs said something similar so I figure you’re both good. I just wanted to make sure neither one of you was planning on breaking up the band, ever. Gotta make sure everyone is happy for the long haul, captain’s orders and all that.”

He winked and started to walk towards him, pulling something small, blue, and glowing out of his subspace. Drift moved out of his way so he could place the object on his chest, it had a magnet on it and sat there brightly against his white and green plating. 

Rodimus stage whispered at him from behind his hand. “Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. Rewind is letting you use it for today, it’s Dominus’s sparkflower. We asked Soundwave if we could use Ravage’s for Megs as well since you both don’t really have anybody ah-alive to walk you down the aisle and give you away. Not that I think that particular Earth tradition is all that great, it’s not like anyone is property to be transferred. Uh, anyway I’ve got to go get ready as well. Good luck! I’m happy for you, really you both deserve this.”

And with that he swooped down and kissed him on the cheek. Minimus blushed as Rodimus smiled cheekily at him and then kissed Drift on the head and sauntered over to Ratchet before kissing him too, but this time on the mouth and with way more tongue than what he had used for him and Drift. Ratchet looked flustered when he pulled away but Rodimus just looked victorious and radiant. 

Minimus couldn’t help but smile at him as he left. Ratchet grumbled something about “speedsters running hot all the time” though he was smiling goofily at Drift now. The other bot just smiled ruefully back at him and finished laser painting Minimus’s legs. 

When he was done he went over to Ratchet and they both grabbed a buffing rag and the wax he had been mixing up and came over to him. It smelled like the cedar trees back on Earth had in California and Minimus closed his eyes as they worked the wax over his new paint job in tandem. 

Ratchet’s voice was gruff with emotion when he spoke. “He’s right. I don’t say that often and I won’t say it while he’s around, in case his ego gets any bigger than it already is, but you two are good for each other. We’re happy for you, all of us.”

Minimus onlined his optics in time to see Drift nod in agreement as he spoke. “All of us, each and every one of us, have had a long and mostly miserable life. Don’t get me wrong, there has been joy and elation, but until recently none of us thought we could ever be so happy. What we have, what you now have, is so precious. We’re all going to do everything in power to hold onto it.”

With that they finished polishing his plating and they both moved in to kiss him, one on each cheek before pulling back and smiling at him. He looked down quickly at the sparkflower on his chest as it pulsed bright blue once, a small electrical shock of happiness. Minimus and Dominus hadn’t been close for millions of years and yet he felt better having his approval right now somehow. Something that he had always secretly wanted and strived for but never quite achieved while they were both alive.

He hadn’t felt like this in so long. Like everything was going to be fine. 

Worry was second nature to him at this point, and he was still nervous, though now he also felt sure. This was exactly where he needed and wanted to be. 

They both led him by the hand out of the habsuite into the sunlight outside. The planet’s bright red orange sun shone down on the gathered crowd, glinting off a menagerie of different colored plating and a few human dresses and suits. He squinted for a second before his optics adjusted and then he only had one bot in focus. 

Standing at the end of the many rows of seats up on the raised platform was Megatron. He was splendid to behold, a gleaming silver, red biolights accented with a coat of shimmering wax. He was standing tall but the clench of his black hands was decidedly nervous. Minimus couldn’t have stopped smiling if he had wanted to. 

Everyone turned to look at him as he made his way down the aisle, Drift and Ratchet moving up and away to stand on either side of the platform. Rodimus was positioned behind the podium in the center looking a little anxious himself, even though he was practically glowing at Minimus. 

He approached the platform, climbed the four stairs up and immediately reached out for him. Megatron took his hands in his swiftly and once again it was just the two of them, staring into each other’s optics, both of them polished and glittering in the sunlight.

Rodimus cleared his intake abruptly. He had insisted on being the one to officiate because he was not only the ship’s other captain but also the last Prime, sort of. Especially now that he was in possession of the only still working Matrix of Creation in the universe. Though he seemed to be regretting it slightly as he looked more nervous than Minimus. Without thinking too much about it he reached out and placed his hand on Rodimus’s forearm and patted it twice comfortingly. 

That seemed to help as Rodimus ex-vented lightly and then began the ceremony. “Honored guests, not so honored guests, Starscream. We’re gathered here today to witness the union of two of the greatest bots I have ever had the honor of knowing. They managed to find each other in peace and are making it work one day at a time. There’s a lot of work still to be done but I’ve never known either of them to shirk their duties. Even when some of their duties were dismantling the entire Cybertronian government or making sure the Wrecker’s didn’t all accidentally blow themselves up. Both of those tasks are about equal in difficulty by the way. I guess what I’m getting at here is that both of you are incredible on your own but together I know you’ll be something truly awe inspiring. And me and the rest of the crew will be here to help you and cheer you on. Now that my professional part is out of the way let's get to the truly sappy and sentimental part, your vows.”

He gestured at Megatron first and Minimus felt him squeeze his hands once. He then looked from Rodimus up into his earnest red optics. “Minimus Ambus of Iacon, I swear on my mind, my spark, all that I am, to love and to cherish you for the rest of my functioning. To stand by your side through our brightest joy and deepest sorrow. To be your protector, your friend, and your mate in every way. I am not good, but I'm trying to be good enough. You have shown me that is the most important thing. To never give up, to always try to be better. Because I cannot take back all that I’ve done, I cannot make amends for it all even, but as long as I keep trying that is a start. You are my new start, my light, and my felicity. I love you now and I intend to do so forever. I don’t really believe in the Allspark but if it does turn out to be real I will be with there eternally with you as well. That is my dedication and power of my devotion to you. I will follow you into perilous uncharted lands, across vast starless expanses, even beyond death. As long as I still know myself I will love you.”

He lifted his clasped hands and placed a reverent kiss to Minimus’s knuckles and the crowd audibly murmured approvingly. Rodimus then gestured for Minimus to speak. And for a second he couldn’t. His vents all hitched and he shook a little before rallying himself. He could do this. 

Minimus put all of his considerable will into his words, standing up straight and strong. “Megatron of Tarn, I have written these vows over and over so many times that half my processor is full of files on you, about you, for you. I love you and I’ve tried in a multitude of methods, and with varying levels of success, to express just how much. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, by your side, through all the softly quiet and shockingly explosive moments. You’ve let me see you, all of you. Both the wonderful and the monstrous and I am honored. I could spend the next several hours elaborating on why I love you and all the ways in which I do but I will spare everyone that for the time being, even though I know you wouldn’t mind at all if I did. Another reason to love you dearly, you’re a fan of my lectures. Instead I will end these vows, given to one of the greatest poets I have ever read, with a poem. I know I’ve never let you read any of mine before now but going forward I’ll be hiding nothing from you. Even my amateurish poetry.”

He cleared his intake and paused once more before reciting it. 

_ I used to mark the hours by your absence, _

_ I mark them now by the gentle taps of your fingers on my waist. _

_ My spark dances merrily to a tune _

_ only you can hum as we orbit each other, _

_ lost in the worlds and galaxies of our love. _

_ Without you I am the wind, _

_ made ephemeral and empty by the slow passage of time _

_ With you I am starlight, lamplight, sparklight _

_ incandescent _

_ jubilant _

_ There is a silence, _

_ a zero point of space between our sparks before they merge, _

_ it is the hardest most desolate place I know. _

_ We can exist without each other, _

_ lonely monoliths on cold bleak shores _

_ We have done it before _

_ we could do it once more. _

_ Love, _

_ I would give up the glass towers of forever _

_ never to be without you _

_ again. _

_ Even a sparkbeat more _

_ I am alight, aglow, aflutter _

_ finally _

_ you are so bright inside me _

_ Together we will keep shining _

_ Forged in blackest fire, risen from the ruins _

_ Joined, _

_ we are now both truly free. _

Megatron’s optics were leaking solvent at the corners and Minimus stared at him in silent reverence now. The crowd was completely quiet so they all could hear his low whisper. “Minimus...that was...”

Minimus smiled at him, his own optics tearing up. “Not my best work, not nearly as good as your best work, but I tried. For you I will always try my very best. From now on and until we both cease to be.”

Megatron made a choked up noise in his vocalizer and nodded once before moving down in one swift motion to scoop him up into his massive gray arms and kiss him. He kissed his lips, cheeks, forehead, and neck in rapid succession, showering him in affection as he praised him and his poetry. Calling him beautiful, and amazing, and telling him how much he loved him and his words. Oh! Megatron had loved his words! 

He couldn’t even kiss him back so he just wrapped his arms around his neck and laughed. The crowd erupted into cheering and whoops, with the occasional loud wolf whistle he was pretty sure was from Verity.

Rodimus wiped away his own solvent tears from his face quickly and tried to look frustrated while speaking. “Hey! You didn’t wait for me to say ‘you may now could kiss your conjunx!’”

Minimus brought his hands up to cup Megatron’s face and hold him still. “Ah, we appear to have broken protocol. Then I shall have to write both of us a citation...later. For now; Rodimus may I kiss my conjunx?”

Rodimus laughed and gave them both a double finger guns. “Hell yeah! Kiss his lights out Minimus!”

With that he brought Megaron’s face towards his own and kissed him soundly. He hummed in approval and both their engines practically purred as Megatron tightened his grip around his waist pulling him in flush against his chest. There was more cheering and clapping but he barely heard it over the feeling of being held so close. Both their sparks reached out to each other through their bond and the only thing he felt was joy and love. So much affection in looped back and forth between them amplifying exponentially. When they broke apart Minimus pressed his forehead to his and they both sighed happily. 

Rodimus clapped his hands and shouted over the gathered crowd. “Alright! Then with all the power vested in me by myself as a ship’s captain and uh, the last mostly functional Prime, I now pronounce you conjunx’d! Everybody clap and shout again! Oh! And throw the tiny shiny paper or whatever!”

Megatron set him down on the stage and with clasped hands they walked back down the aisle again as all their friends threw small shimmering pieces of holographic rainbow paper at them. Minimus wasn’t sure of the significance of it still but it was beautiful to have it swirling around them as he gazed up at his new conjunx.

They headed over to the reception area then and sat down at the head table as the rest of the guests filed on over. The sun wasn’t setting yet but it was lower in the sky as the large crowd of bots and scattered humans helped themselves to the food and fuel Swerve was providing. Everyone, after they got their plates and glasses, had walked past the table and told them congratulations. So many smiles and happy handshakes and hugs! Minimus was giving out so many hugs. 

Megatron mostly stuck to handshakes until Soundwave came by the table to wish them well and then he pulled him into a fierce hug. The blue cassette bearer flailed slightly at first but then returned it just a fiercely. Minimus felt relief through their bond and he wanted to hold his hand again. 

He always felt like reaching out to him, like he was never close enough. Especially when he could tell he was unsure or worried. But now he was happy that Soundwave apparently forgiven him for everything. For the war, for leaving, for Ravage. Soundwave placed his hand over the sparkflower on his chest and nodded once at Megatron before he moved on with his own conjunx Cosmos.

Everyone was talking animatedly and eating, Minimus took a moment to take them all in. It reminded him of the final party they had all had in Swerve’s on the last trip of the _ Lost Light _almost three years ago now. Except that had been bittersweet. This was just sweet. 

Blaster started playing music over the speakers they had set up earlier and Cosmos, Soundwave, and Jazz all crowded around him to make music suggestions and hit lighting cues on the effects board. No one was fighting, well there might have been a few arguments, but over all everyone seemed excited and finally relaxed. At peace. He peeked at Megatron out of the corner of his optic and smiled as their gazes met. He had been watching the gathered people but now he was only watching Minimus. 

Rodimus had insisted on giving all the tables tiny silver bells. You were supposed to ring them, and when enough people were ringing them all at once the happy couple was meant to kiss. Rodimus had read all sorts of ridiculous “wedding magazines” and really gone all out for the two of them even though they were both usually more reserved bots. 

He wasn’t sure who started ringing the bells the first time but he gladly leaned in and kissed him. It was like that for the rest of the meal, any time anyone caught them looking at each other the chiming of little bells started. 

He would never tire of kissing him so the bells were a fine addition to the evening in his opinion. The other thing they had left to do was their ‘first dance as a couple.’ He was a little nervous about that, he was sure he was still a terrible dancer even after Drift and Rodimus’s ‘lessons.’ Which mostly consisted of them dragging him around the dance floor while complaining about his form.

Blaster announced that it was time for their first dance and Megatron stood and offered him his hand and he took it breathlessly. When they reached the flat white tiles everyone had laid down for the dance floor Megatron began to shift and transform. Minimus watched in silent surprise as they were suddenly optic to optic still holding hands.

Megatron smiled at him knowingly and rumbled. “I’ll still lead, if that’s alright with you dearspark? Would you care to have this first dance with your mass shifted, appropriately dashing, and still slightly taller than you conjunx?”

Minimus nodded enthusiastically and put his free hand on his waist. “Of course, lead the way my wonderfully considerate conjunx.”

Megatron laughed lightly and put his arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. The music began to play and they started to sway along with it. Taking small steps together around in a circle. Megatron had let Minimus pick the song. Mostly because his knowledge of Earth’s music was more extensive, and because he trusted his taste. It was “Fly Me To The Moon” by Frank Sinatra. 

It was carefree and swingy, Rodimus had informed him it was also terribly cliche, so overall it was perfect. Megatron had loved it instantly and they were both looking up at each other now as they danced slowly to it. Minimus couldn’t help but sing the lyrics softly to him. Megatron joined him on the chorus, his deep voice raspy with emotion. 

Minimus sang. 

_ Fill my heart with song and let me sing for ever more, _

_ You are all I long for _

_ All I worship and adore _

Megatron echoed him and spoke instead of sang.

_ In other words, please be true _

_ In other words, I love you _

They stopped moving towards the end of the song and kissed each other. He’d never been happier. In that moment everything they’d been through seemed entirely worth it. Though his value assessment algorithm might be skewed now since he was kissing his conjunx and surrounded by supportive and loving friends. But for once Minimus wasn’t worried about its accuracy. When they finally broke apart everyone clapped and hooted. 

They stayed on the dance floor as the song changed and then all the other couples came out to join them as Soundwave and Blaster played “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You” by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. He let Megatron spin him around as they both laughed.

Everyone else appeared to be having fun as well. Cyclonus, Tailgate, and Whirl, and Rewind and Chromedome, seemed elated in particular as they danced together energetically to the hopping Earth music. Rodimus, Drift and Ratchet were all laughing as they took turns dancing with each other. Windblade and Bumblebee had managed to coax Starscream out on to the dancefloor and he wasn’t even sneering at them as they pulled on his arms and danced in tandem. 

Lug and Anode were showing off as Anode picked her up and threw her over her hip in some fancy swing dancing moves. Nautica, Velocity, and Chromia were taking turns spinning each other around giggling. Arcee was letting Aileron lead her around the dance floor in a Camien two-step while trying not to trip over her. Crankcase and Cons4eva were floating above the ground in some sort of glowing red mist around each other grinning, or at least Minimus thought the dire wraith was grinning. 

Nickel was absolutely tearing up the dancefloor with both Roller and Fortress Maximus, to the annoyance of everyone around them as they had to dive out of their way or get flattened. Misfire and Swerve were dancing behind the bar, swinging each other around as Grimlock moved quickly to prevent the bottles they were knocking over from hitting the ground and breaking. 

Krok and Fulcrum were watching them fumble behind the bar until Fulcrum started tapping his foot along to music and Krok threw up his hands in frustration and dragged him onto the dancefloor with him. Marissa was dancing with Buster in her arms, both her and Verity were twirling around on top of Thundercracker’s outstretched palms as he danced in circles happily with Skywarp.

And everyone noticed when Perceptor finally dragged Brainstorm out onto the dance floor, his wings flapping giddily behind him. There was definitely an approving shout from the gathered bots when he reached up and Brainstorm transformed his battlemask away so they could kiss...finally. Minimus found himself cheering for them as well. Megatron laughed and pulled him against him. The bells started to be rung by the guests not on the dance floor as the music played. 

_ You'd be like heaven to touch, I wanna hold you so much _

_ At long last love has arrived, and I thank God I'm alive _

_ You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you _

Somehow the sound of the bells being rung was bittersweet and nostalgic. It made Minimus ache with some sort of forgotten feeling, like he was missing someone he couldn’t quite remember... 

Megatron took his face in his hands and kissed him. 

The strange forlorn ache in his spark evaporated as he kissed him back. This might not have been the direction he was expecting his life to ever go but he wasn’t complaining. There was only light, love, and amusingly, dancing here. Kissing too, and thankfully lots of it. He was happy, Megatron was happy. All of them were finally allowed to be happy.

Together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAD TO END WITH A WEDDING!!! A SAPPY TENDER WEDDING WITH EVERYONE!!! I COULDN'T NOT!!!
> 
> I hope y'all enjoyed all of this, no matter how self-indulgent it got lol. I realize now that I basically wrote a 200 pg MiniMegs fixit novel which is kinda awesome in and of itself. I love this pairing and I am totally writing more stuff about them. 
> 
> As for this verse there are other fics in the series "Without Love There is No Meaning" and they take place concurrently, slightly before, and with "Whisper From The Spark," afterwards. I'm not done with these wonderful bots yet! I gotta make sure all my loose ends are mended...even Rung's. ;)
> 
> Also the part with the Scavs and the line about "Honored guests, not so honored quests, Starscream," are bits I'm super proud of lol. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and commenting as always!!! I love to hear what y'all think and got out of this fic. <3
> 
> If you wonderful folks want more content from me or want to look at a bunch of Transformers memes/art follow me on Twitter @ basilbing for all of that and more!

**Author's Note:**

> Alrrrrrriiiiigghhhhhhhtttttt!!!! I'm so excited to finally be posting this as it's been my baby for months lol. Also there's some incredible art work accompanying it that I adore and am super chuffed to post.
> 
> Okay timeline for this fic: The Lost Light encounters the alternate Functionist Council New Luna One "Primus" and defeats it a whole two years out before Unicron happens instead of after Unicron as it's implied in the comics cannon. This means Megatron's second trial occurred before Unicron and he didn't realize Optimus died until after Minimus freed him from jail...bummer. It's also implied that Optimus didn't go to Megatron's second trial because he couldn't bear to see the final result...double bummer. The events of Unicron have happened about a month previous to the start of this fic. That's why Minimus was so worried they were just going to leave Megatron in the prison to be devoured by Unicron when everyone else evacuated Cybertron.
> 
> I also made it so pretty much everyone who died in the comics survived (I was a pillar of salt levels salty about how they killed off Soundwave and even Starscream in Unicron, ugh, and Cosmos and Laserbeak etc). Except Optimus and Shockwave, who went into the void together to stop Unicron. Which I might write ShockOP fixit for that little caveat at well because I am 100% that bitch.
> 
> Any way that's my timeline for this fic. If ya'll have questions about continuity/wanna talk come @ me on my Twitter @ BasilBing or leave a comment below. I love everyone in this bar!!! So much Big Bang goodness coming ya'lls way.


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